Pokemon Rust - Volume Three
by Bast13
Summary: Just when life was just about to become settled for Steel and Copper in the Indigo City suddenly Whitney has disappeared! Now they have to travel through Kanto to rescue her and fulfil their promise to Janine. *Rated T for blood and death*
1. Chapter 1

"Not funny guys!" Steel yelled at the onlookers and while Janine was looking at the scene with a concerned face, Copper and Blue couldn't stop laughing.

The silver shell that was Knucker the pupitar was chasing Steel around the otherwise empty battlefield. Steel's breathing was becoming very heavy and his legs were tiring from having to constantly dodge all the boulders Knucker was throwing at him.

Blue's alakazam was waiting on the sidelines, ready to destroy any rocks Steel didn't dodge in time but it had been slow enough times to keep Steel running.

"Come on Steel! After all those years in Mount Mortar you need _some_ exercise!" Copper called back and Steel would have retorted if his lungs hadn't been devoid of breath.

"If you don't work this out you'll never be able to battle with it!" Blue yelled encouragingly but Steel found it hard to see the good sentiments when the older trainer was barely able to speak through chuckles.

Steel wheeled around and tried facing the attacking Pokémon but had to bring his arms up to protect his head from the shattered boulder.

"I got your back!" called Blue and Steel caught his breath.

He raised his hands as a sign of peace and spoke in a calm voice, "I'm not going to hurt you. I just..." Steel interrupted himself with an involuntary yelp as Knucker charged but it stopped suddenly. He was glowing with psychic light and Steel looked back to Blue whose alakazam had its spoons raised to indicate power.

Steel eye felt like his eye was twitching with anger, "Why didn't you do that at the start!?"

Blue chuckled, "I gotta have fun sometimes."

Steel sighed and turned back to the aggressive Pokémon, "I'm your trainer now but I promise I won't hurt you."

Knucker met Steel's eyes with rage but Steel met his with kindness and the two were still and silent. Steel's eyes were watering from the prolonged exposure but then Knucker broke away.

Steel smiled, "That'll do for now." Steel held the pokéball up to the frozen Knucker and he disappeared in a red flash into the pokéball.

Steel was turning back to face the others when all of a sudden every other light flickered and the white transformed into red. Janine and Blue seemed to brace a bit and looked up at the red lights tensely.

"What's happening?" Copper asked the two. In the strange mix of red and white lighting her rust-coloured hair looked like fire. Blue looked back at her while Janine looked away at the floor.

"Falkner." Blue said simply and the two teenagers gasped, "He controls all but a few cities in Johto and even though the situations not _as_ bad in Kanto he still controls a lot of it so he has to pass the Indigo Plateau every so often." Blue elaborated, "He mustn't know we're here but never passes without attacking the ruins."

Steel nodded in understanding, "So it's a warning to make sure no-one accidently alerts him that we're here."

Janine nodded and insisted that they continued the training. Janine and Blue were very interested in the state of Copper and Steel's Pokémon considering they'd only had them a short while, excluding Lore, and wanted to help them become stronger.

Steel was enjoying the time spent with them and his Pokémon despite the number of rocks being thrown at his head but Steel was getting constantly distracted by the thousand thoughts clogging up his mind.

He was confused by all that they'd explained to him, such as how anyone could unleash such devastation on an entire continent, but there was also the fact that after over ten years of waiting he'd discovered that his dad had been lying to him and he now had a mother.

Karen seemed just as unsure about how to react to it as he did. They hadn't really talked to each other since then but Steel had kept that picture of them in his jacket.

Steel shook himself out of his daze and turned back to Copper who was dealing with Belinda. Steel couldn't help but feel that she would have dealt better with the raging pupitar than he was currently doing so.

Belinda was very beautiful but Steel noticed a pang of sadness in Copper's eyes whenever she looked at the dragon. However they worked together well and soon Belinda trusted Copper wholeheartedly. Steel couldn't help but feel a bit jealous.

"Dragon tail!" Copper yelled and Belinda's tail whipped around gracefully and crashed into the target.

After what seemed like a tense age but was more accurately only fifteen minutes, the red lights finally flickered back to white.

Everyone's eyes darted quickly up to the lighting before looked at each other.

"I must go and see Clair now." Janine explained hurriedly before sprinting out of the room along with her venemoth.

Blue sighed, "I gotta go too." he paused as something occurred to him and then turned to face the two younger trainers, "Do you guys want to go outside with me? I'm supposed to assess the damages but I think you too will enjoy the view."

It was a chance to go outside again so Steel and Copper agreed to go. Blue showed them the way to an emptier part of the city with a door similar to that at Clair's tunnel.

Sitting in a chair next to the door with a golem by his side was Brock. He looked up to Blue and quickly down at the screen in his hands.

"It's all clear. The last ones left a few minutes ago." Brock told them. The rock-type specialist got out of his chair and stretched stiffly, "It's Whitney's turn anyway, thanks for reminding me." Without waiting for a response Brock began walking off and Blue approached the door.

Steel watched him press a green plant-like badge to the door and the metal door swung open. Blue walked forward and the two followed him through a short staircase and corridor up into an open space.

Steel's eyes widened at the breathtaking view. From the Indigo Plateau he could see the vast ocean and the beautiful sunset. The colours were distorted and skewed from having to shine from behind the Everstorm but the lack of defined shape seemed to make it even prettier, like a watercolour painting.

The ocean was alight with red, orange and purple and the regions either side looked tiny. Steel tore his eyes away from the horizon and focused on Kanto which was on the left. It looked about the same size of Johto and Steel couldn't see much more than that at the time but it interested him to think that there was practically another world just to his side yet he'd never visited it. Steel found himself wondering what the other regions were like, Sinnoh, Kalos, Unova and even Hoenn. The people there were going on with their lives unhindered while everyone Steel had met had been weighed down by the threats looming over them.

Steel turned around and saw a mass of craters and scorched dirt, the grass had been long since destroyed. Rocks were scattered all over the place but there were a few larger blocks of rubble which had somehow avoided being obliterated.

Steel quickly scanned the area and found himself unable to place where they'd come out. He was sure that there hadn't been anything in its way but he could find it. Copper noticed him looking around with a lost expression on his face and pointed out a patch of seemingly regular earth.

"I think it's camoflague." Copper guessed, "That would explain how they've remained undetected all this time."

The sound of Blue's muffled yell broke the calm and the two ran over to him but halted abruptly as he ordered them to stop.

"What is it?" Steel asked nervously. He was frozen as if in the middle of a minefield but followed Blue's gaze downwards and saw that he was standing near a group of scattered metal. Steel recognised them as badges and gave Blue a confused look, silently asking him to explain.

"Falkner may not know that we're here but must assume that we visit. He leaves these badges as a message for us." Blue said bitterly as he glared at Violet City in the distance.

There was a small pink heart, two circles and a thin green flower, "Wait," Copper began, "Isn't that _your_ badge?"

"It was Red's. The elite four and champions don't have gyms of their own so they usually use badges from gyms they've beaten." he pointed to the soul badge and the marsh badge and listed their trainers but then he hovered over the final one.

It was half red and half black with small black dots on the red side. It looked familiar to Steel and Copper but neither of them could quite place where they'd seen it before.

"That's the hive badge."

Copper's eyes widened in horror as she finally pieced things together and a moment later Steel joined her. It shouldn't have been a surprise but Copper had vainly hoped that after ignoring Bugsy for so long Falkner would continue to ignore him.

Blue looked around the ruins quickly, "There doesn't seem to be any problems here." Blue's face was like stone when he said, "And we better tell them."

They all went back inside and Steel wondered why he didn't feel as upset as he should have. He felt no tears, just a certain heaviness to his entirety from the guilt of it pretty much being his fault. He'd been the one to get Bugsy out of hiding when he almost burned down Azalea with Jolie.

_That leaves only Blackthorn, Mahogany and Cherrygrove not under Zephyr control_, Steel thought sadly and Copper caught his depressed look so she smiled at him despite there being no real reason to.

Clair resisted saying, 'Maybe it was too early to cross out his name' because of Copper and Steel being in the room but thanked them for informing her. It occurred to her as well how few cities were under Falkner's control in Johto but didn't want to worry them.

* * *

Within days the message was spread among the League members of Bugsy's death and Clair walked up to the security room to do the footage check of that week with a weighed down mind.

Brock had only just opened the door to his room when he got a message from Clair. He sighed and read the note which was basically reprimanding him for leaving his station for _three whole minutes_ that day where Blue had gone outside. He rolled his eyes at it then noticed the order at the bottom of the quick rant telling him to inform Whitney of her turn guarding the entrance.

Brock strolled down the city's corridors to where Whitney's room was. He didn't understand why she seemed to get the least shifts out of all of them when Bruno, who was at least a decade their senior, got the same amount as everyone else.

Brock barely saw Whitney so he was a bit nervous about knocking on her door, usually Janine was the one to call on her because you never knew when she was having a crying fit or not.

He rapped on the door lightly, "Whitney? It's your shift by the entrance." he called. He tried the door to notify her but then yelped slightly when the door opened, having not expected it to be unlocked.

Brock regained his balance and glanced around the room, confirming that no-one was there. If it had been anyone else he would have assumed they were out somewhere but Whitney preferred to stay in her room so he flipped on the light and investigated further.

All the rooms in the Indigo City start out the same but from a simple bed, desk and tiny bathroom in the corner the citizens could decorate as they wished. Whitney's bed was a mass of pillows and comfort while her desk was covered in photos.

Brock stared in horror at the several pictures of her when she was younger and several people who were now dead such as Pryce. _No wonder she cries so much_, Brock thought, _with all the living in the past she does_. He saw a face down frame and picked it up. It was a picture of Whitney, Janine and Falkner all smiling and Brock almost dropped the photo. He gingerly put down the frame and frowned.

He looked away from the pictures and back to the bed where a piece of paper was neatly folded on the duvet*. Somehow dread had been growing inside Brock's mind at the sight of the overly plush room but that little piece of paper sent it skyrocketing.

He edged towards it and straightened it out so he could read it properly. There were several dots of slightly darker paper scattered across it where Brock guessed tears had fallen. Unsurely, he began to read.

_I want to write 'To whoever's reading this' but since you're the only one who bothers to see me, I'm guessing that it's you (Jan) who's reading this._

_I wonder how long it'll be before anyone notices I'm gone but you won't want to hear my self-pity after having to bear it for so long. All that matters is that you won't have to deal with my whining any more._

_I so sorry Jan but I can't stand it any longer. You guys are so brave in living here but I understand now that all I did was hide under my blanket. I'm no use here and not even you'd deny that if you knew I wasn't listening so I've decided to try and help._

_I know Johto's too dangerous so I'm going to at least help in Kanto. Falkner's out there and I know he hates us now but you always told me 'Life's worthless without the risk' and why should I value my life above Koga's or Red's or Will's?_

_I don't want to fight him but if Morty or Bugsy can evade him I should be able too but that may be too optimistic. If I die then at least I'll have done something._

_I love you guys but this is important to me. Clair and all won't understand but I hope you will but if you don't it doesn't matter anyway._

_*Whitney*_

Brock didn't feel right reading it. This was for Janine, not him, but he couldn't believe it. When Will had run away and only his Xatu had returned the League had been in shock. They didn't want anyone else to die. Why couldn't Whitney see that?

He sprinted out of the room, clutching the letter in his hand, and racked his mind for places where Janine could have been. Brock ran past lots of people but didn't stop until he was sprinting into the gym where Janine was usually training with others.

But all he saw was Blue and a bunch of other trainers along with their Pokémon. All eyes fell on Brock who was breathing quite heavily from the long run.

"Do you know where Janine is?" Brock asked Blue but Blue shook his head.

"Probably in her room. Why?"

Brock's reply only came after a pause as he was trying to remember where Janine's room was while formulating an answer, "There's a League meeting in ten minutes."

Blue sighed exasperatedly at the news but waved Brock away to show he'd acknowledged the announcement.

Brock began sprinting in the opposite direction to Janine's room, informing any other's about the meeting on his way. This was a big problem that they'd have to discuss.

* * *

Janine's head was in her hands, "I can't believe she ran away." the letter was in front of her and the entire league was sitting around the table in the meeting room, "If only I'd..." she started but Clair cut her off.

"This isn't your fault Janine. You're the only person who _shouldn't_ be saying that."

"But what do we do? Track her down?" Blue asked.

Clair shook her head, "If her only chance is not attracting attention then that's the worst thing we can do."

"And she's got at least four days head start on us. Tracking her down when the range is 'Kanto' would be almost impossible to pull off without one of us being killed." Karen reasoned.

"How do you know it was four days ago?" questioned Bruno.

"She mentioned Bugsy evading Falkner and we all found out that wasn't the truth four days ago. Not to mention the fact that no-one's seen her for several days."

Karen looked to Janine and Janine nodded solemnly, "I haven't checked up on her for at least five." she admitted miserably.

Clair clenched her fists, "I didn't want anyone else to die."

"None of us did." Misty agreed.

"But we can't go out there to look for her without attracting unwanted attention." said Brock.

An idea formed in Blue's mind, "_We_ can't." he mumbled before he could stop himself. The idea was too dangerous to even consider.

Karen and Janine caught his meaning and gave him stern looks, "It's far too dangerous. No citizen should risk their lives if all we do is sit here." Karen pressed.

Clair caught on too and Blue raised his hands in protest to stop her from yelling at him, "Sorry I said it. I was just thinking aloud."

Clair crossed her arms, "It's especially dangerous because they _would_ do it. They've already done enough and they deserve their place here so no-one can even suggest it to them."

There was a silence as the last option they had was shot down. All they could do was wait and Clair had to stop herself from slamming her fist on the table. 'Wait'. It was amazing how quickly someone could hate that word but then again, she had had to face it as her only option for far too long.

* * *

Janine didn't want to do it at all. She hated the idea and would have done anything else if there had been anything else to do. She'd lost Falkner to hatred and her father to death. Janine wasn't sure whether she could handle losing her best friend too. Karen would hate her for it but in a way Janine believed that she'd understand her as well.

Janine had finished explaining the situation to Copper and Steel and waited anxiously for their reply.

"Of course I'll help." Steel said too quickly for Janine's liking.

Copper noticed Janine's worried face behind the ninja mask and folded her arms, "Do you want us to or not?" Janine's eyes widened at Copper's brashness, "You know that two teenagers won't attract much attention right? Especially since a lot of people think we're dead."

Janine nodded, "But you mustn't agree because you feel forced to." Janine groaned internally at her foolishness. As if they wouldn't feel pressured at this point.

Steel shook his head, "I would have volunteered even if you hadn't asked. If I can help then I'll do it, I promise we'll find her for you."

Copper paused slightly but then smirked, "And as if I'd pass up the chance to fight some more Zephyrs."

Janine frowned, "You shouldn't engage in any fights if you can. We don't want either of you two to get injured."

Copper help up her hands dismissively, "I was _joking_." _Sort of_, Copper added mentally.

Janine still didn't look sure and she was certain that she'd be feeling guilty every moment they were gone but forced herself to make the effort to save her friend. Janine pointed to Morty and Oak's pokégears on the two teenager's wrists.

"My pokégear's number should be on both of yours. If you need any assistance I'll help." Copper nodded but felt that she wouldn't be utilising that fallback in the near future.

Janine helped the two prepare quickly before making sure that their exit was unhindered by choosing to station herself in the security room that night.

The fog badge worked on the door so very soon the Copper and Steel were walking out in to the chilling air of night.

The sky looked just as beautiful at night as it had at sunset. The sky looked like a black fabric inset with a thousand little diamonds but Copper and Steel were both aware that they had to get away from the plateau before Clair or someone walked in on Janine in the security room.

Steel felt truly sorry for Janine and couldn't imagine if something happened to Copper. The though sent fear racing through him so he tried taking his mind off things by throwing out Lancer and shooting off into the air.

The howling wind quickly drowned out the terrifying thoughts and he began flying over Kanto. At night the ground looked exactly like the sky except the darkness was the shadows and the jewels were the little lights from houses and streets.

Steel quickly ordered Lancer to stop as he suddenly remembered something. Conrad...

He looked guiltily back to Copper and darted back to her. She smirked at him to stop herself from looking sad and looked to Lancer.

"I can't fly Steel." she reminded him, "We're gonna have to climb down like regular people."

Steel winced at his stupidity and recalled Lancer. 'So far so good' as the saying goes...

* * *

***Duvet – I think it's also called a comforter or a quilt**

* * *

**Welcome to the third and final Volume of Pokemon Rust! This will be another adventure with Steel and Copper so it won't be as disjointed as Volume Two.**

**Now they're adventuring into Kanto in their mighty quest to find Whitney! (I love melodramatics)**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter so please review with any comments, suggestions or questions for the series! :D**


	2. Chapter 2

It didn't take long for the League to realise that Steel and Copper had disappeared. To be more precise, it was at 7 o'clock the next morning when neither of them came to breakfast. They'd come down every day since their arrival so Misty began to worry.

After that they quickly confirmed they were gone and that someone from the League must have told them. The suspicion immediately went to Janine and Blue since they'd spent the most time with the two then went solely to Janine once they realised she had a motive.

Janine was pressed up against a ceiling with her ditto camouflaging her. The League's rage was one she couldn't avoid indefinitely but she convinced herself that all they needed was some time to calm down before she dares confront them. Karen was livid and attempting to track her down but for one of the first times in her life, Janine found herself unsure of her abilities to hide.

People often described her as 'one with the shadows' when it came to her stealth but Karen was a master of darkness. Janine had no idea when they'd come back; all she knew is that she wouldn't be able to hide from everybody that long.

But she didn't regret it. She'd do _anything_ to make sure she didn't lose one more friend and they were the only way. Falkner knew her too well. She'd be found and killed within days. Janine hated not being able to do anything herself but trusted in Steel and Copper. They were very intelligent for their age.

* * *

Steel missed the small foothold he thought there'd been on the mountainside so he skidded down the last few metres of rock and fell onto the grass below. Lancer didn't have to strength to fly the two of them all the way so Steel and Copper had had to climb down uneasily with the help of Lancer and Raiden, who could at least hover.

Copper landed next to Steel and sighed in relief, "Thank goodness that's over." she dusted off her sore hands and looked at their new surroundings.

Steel was now sitting on the overgrown grass and felt as good as blind. The little light they got from the moon was blocked out by a mass of trees. Steel and Copper both recalled their Pokémon and Steel shakily got to his feet but he didn't make a few steps past the twigs, fallen branches and tree roots without tripping up.

"Owww!" he exclaimed and Copper chuckled.

"How long were you going to go before asking for Jolie's help?" she asked while crossing her unseen arms.

Steel got back to his feet stubbornly, "I'm not sure if you should. Last time she was even _near_ a forest it almost burnt down."

Copper smirked, "I don't think she'd do that." Copper threw out her elegant ninetails and Jolie smirked identically to its trainer. Copper crouched down to Jolie's level and scratched her cream coloured fur. Steel groaned quietly. Being around those two at the same time was never a good thing for his self-esteem.

Copper reached down and ran her hands through the grass, searching for a stick, then held up the resulting branch in front of Jolie's mouth. Jolie spat flames onto it and the twig caught on fire, illuminating the area so the two could finally see.

They were at the edge of a forest that was dark and thick. Even in the torchlight Steel couldn't make out any wild Pokémon but he didn't relax. Very tall trees loomed over them and the flickering cast ominous shadows over the bark and ground, making it seem as if there was a bunch of monsters peeking in and out of the darkness.

"It's like the I-Ile-ex Forest." she was interrupted by a yawn.

"It is pretty late." Steel explained as the two of them began walking through the woods.

Copper frowned, they were both forced to walk oddly because of the wild conditions of the ground, "But it's not like we've got a lot of time to get going. We've gotta be at least a city away before anyone notices we're gone or they'll find us."

Steel nodded determinedly, "Good point. We have to find Whitney for Janine."

Jolie plodded alongside them for light and protection as the three of them tried getting through the thick, overgrown maze of a forest. The forest was very strange. There were rows of clearly taller trees forming vague pathways but many of them were filled in by smaller ones. There were areas that seemed to be more mud than grass while tall plants flooded other areas. It looked as if there had been a natural path there a long time ago but it had since been consumed by nature.

Still no Pokémon attacked them.

Copper and Steel were relieved since they were so tired but also unnerved. You'd think that there would be loads of wild Pokémon in such a wild wood.

Jolie abruptly stopped. Copper looked back while Steel froze, not wanting to be thrown to the ground by an army of hidden weeds again. Jolie's crimson eyes were locked on an item in the distance which only her night eyes could make out in the dim and inconsistent glow.

Copper squinted into the wall of trees and tried finding what the ninetails was staring at but was completely lost.

"What is it?" she asked Jolie but Jolie didn't even bark to explain.

Jolie pounced into the darkness and Copper cried out, immediately giving chase to her while Steel followed. Tree branches clawed at them as the two teenagers ran, leaving many small cuts on their skin and clothes but Steel was worrying more about whatever danger Jolie had sensed.

They sprinted after her through the thick cluster of bark and plants but then suddenly broke into a strange bubble of freedom.

The greenery had curved unnaturally to form a sphere of peace among the natural chaos. Trees curved around the clearing and the grass was considerably shorter than the overgrown blades they'd been previously trudging through.

Jolie stood near the centre. Her body was low and her ears were flat. Her magnificent tail was bunched up and flicking around like it always did when she was angry and her lips were pulled back in a snarl, revealing her long sharp fangs. Jolie's eyes were darting around suspiciously and Copper stayed back on the edge of the clearing cautiously.

"What is this place?" Copper muttered to herself.

Steel stepped forward slowly into the strange area and looked around but then yelped as Jolie growled at him.

"What...?!" he began, annoyed, but then something pounced on him.

Steel yelled in pain as something very heavy smashed into his chest and sent him flying into some of the trees behind him. Copper hurriedly placed her makeshift torch on the fork of a branch.

"Hey!" Copper shouted and the large purple Pokémon turned to face her. It seemed to be made of three ugly spheres, two of which had faces. A white skull and crossbones was under its main face and a cloud of noxious-looking gas surrounded it.

Steel groaned to her side and she gave him a quick concerned glance but was forced to focus on the five men entering the clearing, their Pokémon by their sides.

"Weezing." one of the men called and the ugly poison-type floated backwards to its master.

They all wore black shirts and arrogant expressions. The weezing hovered at the side of the man who reminded Copper of a sickly beanpole. He looked too thin for his height and had hair which was a flat mess of brown and blonde.

"Jolie!" Copper cried as she saw a long purple snake with a fanned out head wrapping itself around Jolie who was whimpering in pain.

"A ninetails. That'll fetch a few thousand pokédollars for sure." a black-eyed man sneered at the captured Pokémon but they looked to Copper who was growling with fury.

"Listen kid," one of the men hissed. His black hair was spiky and slicked back, "You can move along and take your little friend there to wherever you're headed and we won't have to hurt ya."

Copper clenched her fists, "Let. Jolie. Go." she ordered but the men just burst into unpleasant laughter.

"What's a little girl like you going to do about it?" the stout and blonde man asked in a smarmy voice.

Copper put her hands on her hips and purposely pushed back her grey hoodie to reveal her belt. They didn't have time to react because Copper's hands shot forwards, throwing Bruce and Belinda in the battle.

The men had definitely expected her to have more Pokémon considering the fact that she had a ninetails but hadn't expected an dragonair or for her to fight them one on five.

"Rock tomb! Dragon tail!"

"Rollout!" Steel croaked from behind her and Antheia the gloom charged forwards.

"Muk!" the red headed man cried and a thick purple blob sludged in front of Antheia, ready to attack, but Charlie was the quicker of the two.

She smashed into the poison-type and it was hurled into the red headed trainer, silencing his command.

"Dion!" the raticate's pale-faced trainer yelled out but he too was silenced by the power of Belinda's powerful dragon tail which threw the raticate at him like a bat would a ball.

A load of rocks phased through the flattened grass and were hurled at Bruce's command at the gaping golbat and finally the weezing.

Jolie growled and fire burst out of her mouth. Flames swirled around her and Arbok, forcing the latter to let go of the unaffected fire-type.

The band of Pokémon thieves were backed up into a corner now with their eyes wide in surprise and fear of the two teenagers who'd managed to overpower them so easily.

"Stun spore!" Steel raised Antheia's pokéball, about to release her, when a high, metal-on-metal-like screech resonated through the sky and down onto the group in the wood. Copper's eyes snapped upwards before descending suspiciously onto the group of nervous criminals.

"Hey, kid." Steel met the raticate trainer's eyes and found they were terrified, "Can you wait a bit? If the Zephyrs are coming I _really_ don't wanna be paralysed when they come."

Steel's eyes filled with identical terror. He looked up to the inky sky but couldn't see anything past the leaves and darkness, "They're _here_?"

Dion nodded, obviously panicking, "Duh. Viridian's full of 'em, as is most of Pewter City. Any day now the whole city'll be crushed and _I_ don't want to be killed by the debris."

Copper met each of their eyes in turn and sighed resignedly before facing Steel, "I think we need to prioritise our enemies right now. If the Zephyrs are attacking Pewter City then we need to be in and out of there as quickly as possible."

"Um, what?" the black-eyed thief piped up, "You guys are heading there anyway? Even though we _just_ told you a bunch of flying-type bastards are invading?"

Steel nodded, "Of course. We're looking for a friend who could be anywhere in Kanto. We can't miss out Pewter City."

Copper smiled slyly, "But if there's an invasion then we'll need you guys to take us there. We _are_ only children after all." She explained in a sing-song voice.

It was at that moment when Bruce, Jolie and Belinda stood up intimidatingly next to their trainer and the five thieves realised how much trouble they were actually in. Steel grinned at Copper.

"Good idea. We'll need some guides if we want to get there as soon as possible." he looked to the men, "How do we get out of here?" Steel asked.

The raticate trainer looked at him wide-eyed, "You were trying to get out?" he asked incredulously, "Where did you guys even come from?"

Copper folded her arms, "I thought you guys were the ones who wanted to get out. We really don't have to time to be dawdling here."

The short thief pointed to his right, "If you just go that way then you'll be on Route 2 before you know it. Pewter City's just north of here, you can't miss it."

Copper smirked and pointed in the indicated direction, "Lead the way gentlemen. I'd prefer for _you_ to spring your own trap instead of us."

The thieves, realising they had no choice but to help the mysterious two, began grudgingly walking towards the edge of the woods under the watchful eye of Steel, Copper, Charlie, Bruce, Jolie and Belinda. Steel smiled to himself. Trust Copper to turn a robbery into a handy bunch of guides/shields for them.

* * *

**Finally! This chapter for so hard for me to write but now it's done!**

**Next time we'll be in Pewter City and begin the search for Whitney.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter so please review with any comments, suggestions or questions about the series! :D**

* * *

**P.S. To Umbreon because I can't reply directly for some reason:**

**Thanks for supporting the series so much and it's funny you should mention me killing/insaning the old characters because now my sister is calling me George R.R Martin. ;)**


	3. Chapter 3

Steel resisted the great urge just to yell when the thieves led them to a very well-ordered and _not_ overgrown route just to the east of the Viridian Forest.

"What happened here?" Steel wondered at the unusual contrast between Route 2 and the wild forest.

The thieves kept glancing up at the sheet of darkness which was the sky, wary of any Zephyrs trying to fly to Pewter City, but had been surprisingly civil to the two. Steel had suspected that it was out of fear from Jolie, Charlie, Bruce, Belinda and now Antheia but it didn't sound very forced.

The redhead was Dion, the stout one was Dane and the tall one was Stacey who'd blushed quite fiercely when introducing himself. The black-haired and black-eyed ones were Ellis and Abner respectively. They'd admitted to being Pokémon catchers which explained the utter lack of Pokémon they'd encountered in the forest. Apparently they'd lived in the Viridian Forest until the League cut most of it down in to make travel easier.

"We lived in Viridian for a while but then all this Hoenn and Zephyr sh-" Ellis glanced back to Steel and Copper and stopped himself, "-_thing_ happened so we decided to move back in for safety and earn a few quid while we could."

"How did you kids even get in there? I mean, you can't leave Viridian without walking onto Route 2." Dion wondered and Steel's eyes darted around as he thought up an excuse.

"We were flying to Pewter City but then we got shot down but it was so dark we couldn't see a way out." Steel lied. That seemed to be good enough for them but then again the five of them weren't going to earn any doctorates any time soon.

Pewter City was finally in view and Copper was relieved that maybe there would be an opportunity to rest for the night. They had to get out of the League's reach soon but she doubted that anyone would be looking for them at this time of night.

They reached the border and Dane clapped his hands together, "Well, here is it: Pewter City, the city between rugged mountains. See ya." he and his group wheeled around and made to leave but then another screech blasted the air.

Everyone dived for cover and thanks to the light from the city shining on the cloud cover Steel was able to see the cause. The silhouette of a large sharp bird flew over their heads and they followed its path to Pewter City.

"Th-that's why we didn't want to come to this freaking city!" Stacey cried while trembling.

Steel looked to Charlie then the two of them began sprinting off into the city with Copper and her Pokémon behind them.

"You made a massive mistake you bastards!" someone in the city was shouting.

Steel and Copper ran into the city to find them behind a wall of Zephyrs and their Pokémon while a crowd of people was facing them angrily.

"Be quiet." one of the Zephyrs hissed, "You idiots are forgetting one thing; we could _crush_ you all before your little city could even begin to fight back."

No-one had noticed Copper and Steel looking onto the scene but they could see the crowd facing them well. The shouting man looked livid. He wore broken glasses over his fiery brown eyes and both his stubbly beard and short hair was black. His shirt could barely be called white and his black leather shoes were caked in dirt.

The men and women were wearing livid expressions and even children showed anger through their bleary eyes, it was midnight after all, but despite that there seemed to be an anchor made of fear hanging above their heads, threatening them and forcing them to freeze so the Zephyr continued to threaten the people. The empty threats and insults were increasingly becoming violent.

Steel and Copper were still as well, silently debating with themselves whether to just blow away the wall of Zephyrs before they were spotted or turn back. But Steel locked eyes with a woman. Her hazel eyes conveyed a quick message which Steel could not ignore. He only had Charlie and Antheia, a pokéball would make too sound, but there was no more time. One had noticed him. The rest would soon follow.

Allowing himself one more breath he then began.

"Rollout! Stun spore!" his shout broke the barrage of threats being hurled at the Pewter City crowd. There was a unanimous little jump as everyone reacted to the abrupt command.

Charlie rolled into action. She held her breath and smashed into most of the unaware Zephyrs while a lot began seizing up as they unwittingly inhaled Antheia's attack. The crowd automatically stepped back in surprise while the Zephyrs began turning around, beginning to realise they were under attack.

Copper's Pokémon attacked at the same time. Bruce leapt at the main taunter and swung his elastic-like legs at the cruel man's head while electricity sparked through Belinda's graceful body before shooting outwards and paralyzing everything it came into contact with. Great plumes of fire shot from Jolie's mouth and began spiralling around a small group.

It was an impressive and effective first move but there were a lot more Zephyrs than they could have physically fought alone.

Copper was caught by a powerful gust so she was knocked off her feet while Steel had to dive out of a pidgeotto's way to avoid being ploughed down by brave bird. The Zephyrs turned to the immediate threat behind them and Steel instantly flooded with fear. A flying-type had knocked out Antheia and Charlie was in the same boat as Steel. Bruce too was now lying on the floor unconscious while Belinda and Jolie were standing defensively around Copper who was trying to get up despite being winded.

It wasn't very long until they'd been spotted by everyone there and not much later when the crowd began recognising them as children.

Steel was about to order another move for Charlie and throw out more of his Pokémon but a quick gligar swooped in front of them. A swarm of poison stings flew at Steel and he turned to the side, making sure they didn't hit his arm, but then cried out at the pain as his clothes were littered in tiny holes and little cuts began appearing. Poison-type moves rarely poisoned humans as they did Pokémon but it hurt like hell. The Zephyrs sensed his weakness and began moving towards him but then the approaching trainers suddenly began falling.

Steel glanced back and saw a golbat, arbok, muk, raticate and a weezing suddenly blasting the Zephyrs back quickly with poison attacks.

The Zephyrs were blown back by a noxious fog and everyone's eyes widened in surprise then immediately closed because there was a poison being blown in their faces. All the remaining Zephyrs turned angrily to the even newer newcomers and one of the Zephyrs managed to wrench an eye open despite the poison cloud covering them. To the thieves' horror, recognition flashed through her.

"Get those bandits!" she commanded and they soon scattered like ratattas but the brief reprieve was enough to distract the Zephyrs for long enough. Charlie charged again while an attack finally began from behind.

Steel saw people with rock-type Pokémon fighting back against the rapidly decreasing number of Zephyrs who were quickly realising that they were fighting a war on two fronts.

"You pathetic bastards are gonna pay!" one of them yelled, her arms raised to protect her head from the onslaught of stones being hurled at her. The woman looked to the remaining Zephyrs and their flying-types began shooting into the air, their trainers fleeing along with them.

Copper and Steel gasped in relief as the battle faded but they could hear the people wondering when the Zephyrs would return.

Steel began unconsciously burning at all the eyes staring at him but for the moment he ignored them so he could return Antheia and he was about to go and talk to Copper when someone spoke up, the man who'd been confronting the Zephyrs.

"Come on everyone. It's past midnight." the man must have held some sort of position of power or respect because the crowd murmured in agreement and began flooding back to their houses while he and the woman who'd met Steel's eyes stayed.

"Thank you for helping up rid our city of those people but I'm afraid a numbers advantage is one we never have for long." she said grimly.

"What were they doing here in the first place? That wasn't nearly enough people for an invasion and it's the middle of the night." Copper wondered.

The man rubbed his arm unconsciously as he talked, "They wanted me to tell them something. I'm the head scientist at the Pewter Museum of Science. They didn't understand that my speciality doesn't cover Ho-oh or Lugia and..."

Copper's irises shrunk in fear, "What do they want with them?"

The man shrugged, obviously miffed at being interrupted, "Knowing them they want to summon them and destroy Kahto some more."

But the woman's eyes were glazed over in thought, "That may not be the case." her voice was dreamy as if she was only thinking aloud, "There _has_ been talk about escaping the Everstorm after all..."

"But Ho-oh and Lugia were attacked years ago. They can't be summoned again."

The man looked inquisitively at Steel and the boy stiffened up under his gaze, "How did you find that out? Not many people know _that_ particular tale."

"We're from Mahogany Town. It's common knowledge there." Copper lied.

The woman looked curious, "Mahogany Town? Who are you two anyway?"

Copper and Steel introduced themselves as did the man and woman.

"Why did you come to Kanto then?" asked Clara.

"We're looking for our friend. She disappeared about a week ago and all we know is that she'd be avoiding the Zephyrs." Steel explained.

"What does she look like?" Christopher wondered.

Steel paused before talking. Neither of them had ever seen Whitney before so they'd just be repeating what Janine told them which could be dangerous if anyone found out it was Whitney they were looking for.

"Umm...A woman with pink hair and eyes." Steel said vaguely. If either of the couple recognised the description then they at least didn't say anything about it.

"I don't think anyone like that has passed through here, but if she was avoiding Zephyrs then she won't be in Vermillion, Viridian or Lavender Town. They're completely taken over."

Copper opened her mouth to ask more questions but Chris raised his hand to stop her, "We'll help you find your friend but we better wait for morning. Nothing will ever be accomplished when you can barely stand up straight."

Steel self-consciously corrected his posture and then was lead to the Pokémon centre along with Copper. They seemed shocked to find that they had six Pokémon each, Steel included.

"Six?" Steel frowned at his friend as she collected all of the pokéballs and clipped them back on her belt, "Since when you get a sixth?"

Steel saw her eyes subtly flick towards the watching couple, "After she helped me out with my problem your mum gave me a present to protect me." she stretched and yawned and Steel automatically translated it as 'I'm going to elaborate later when there aren't others around'.

The couple left Copper and Steel in the Pokémon centre and the two began getting some rest. There weren't any beds in view so they both lay down on the long sofas on opposite ends of the building and used their bags as pillows.

Steel kept trying to close his eyes and go to sleep but then soon realised that they were actually wide open and staring into the darkness in Copper's direction. She'd used the phrase 'your mum' to keep the secret from Chris and Clara but it felt so weird to him. He wondered when he'd ever get used to having a mum again but then his mind began drifting towards the likely possibility of him not returning.

It was undoubtable that they wouldn't survive another encounter with the Zephyr leader. They'd already done that once and if they found Whitney, who was on his 'hit list', then there was no way in the distortion world.

And with that 'lovely' thought running around his brain Steel began to drift off.

* * *

Since it was clear that Whitney wasn't in Pewter City Steel and Copper were prepared to leave as soon as the two of them woke up but Clara and Chris had promised them some help when it came with weeding out where she could have ran to.

Out of the eight* cities and towns in Kanto they'd already cancelled down three but hopefully they could shorten the list even more. The two walked into the Pokémon centre at about six o'clock and began answering some of their questions about Kanto.

"Well, there weren't a lot of people in Lavender Town to begin with so that was an easy invasion for them while next to all the trainers of Vermillion City died when Cianwood City collapsed." Chris explained grimly, "And Viridian City is the closest to Johto so the Zephyrs could launch a full-scale attack there."

Copper nodded, "So those are the Zephyr controlled cities. Are there any others our friend wouldn't be able to go to?"

Clara thought for a while, twirling her white blonde hair as she did so, "No-one's been able to go in and out of Saffron City since Sabrina put shields all around it. I also wouldn't recommend going to Fuchsia City since it was the home of Koga and Janine who booby-trapped the city."

Steel nodded but doubted that Whitney wouldn't be able to get into either of the cities considering that she was a gym-leader and Janine's best friend but accepted the information graciously and then made to leave. They were well-rested and prepared to exit the city now.

Copper was wondering what the Zephyrs would need Ho-oh and Lugia for but considering what had happened to Ecruteak City last time it had happened it couldn't be a good thing. Clara had mentioned something about the Everstorm she could guess that it might be a way to get rid of it. It would be a great thing since the other regions could help but it would be horrific if Falkner was released with the power of both the flying-type legendaries with him.

But before they actually left Steel had to ask something, he knew the opinion in the Johto but wanted to know what the deal was in Kanto.

"Didn't this used to be Brock's city?" Steel asked cautiously and their expressions immediately darkened.

"I think after ten years of abandonment Pewter City no longer belongs to a gym leader." Chris explained angrily. Copper had expected Clara to have the same expression but instead she looked away nervously and began playing with her hair again.

"Anyway," she continued distractedly, "I hope you two get to Cerulean City safely. I don't know if things are different in Johto but I wouldn't go around mentioning the League to people. Most people absolutely hate them and it wouldn't be wise for you to continue getting into fights."

Steel rolled his sore right shoulder and resolved to try not to do something like charge a whole bunch of Zephyrs again. They waved good-bye to Clara and Chris and walked into Route 3, leaving Pewter City behind.

Once they were a speaking distance away Steel turned to Copper and asked for her to show him whatever Pokémon Karen had given her.

Copper's smile was actually quite proud when she threw out the mysterious sixth Pokémon. In a metallic flash a short creature about three and a half feet tall appeared before them.

His claws and fangs were like icicles and there was a yellow sun-like gem placed on his dark purple forehead. His bright red eyes shone with intelligence and his head, ears, neck and tail were covered in scarlet plumage.

Steel met his eyes and jumped a bit when he leapt at him. He was confused at the strangely cold touch but quickly realised he was being hugged.

"A-a weavile?" he yelped and the weavile in question bounced off Steel back to the ground. He looked to Copper, "Is it...?"

She shook her head, "Karen wasn't going to give me one of her oldest Pokémon but was happy to give me one of her others." Copper was watching the Pokémon's intense and almost awe-filled stare at Steel, "Though I think he might have been sent on some sort of mission though since he seems to be obsessed with you."

Steel laughed and petted her head, "What's his name?" he asked and Copper cleared her throat dramatically.

"Presenting...Dwaine the Weavile!" she announced and Dwaine leapt into the air for effect, landing with his hands on his hips as if he was superman.

"He'd so cool!" Steel grinned and Dwaine grinned back, "Finally! You have a Pokémon that doesn't hate me!"

Copper grinned, "They don't hate you. Jolie at least is just showing you who's boss. "

Steel rolled his eyes and the three of them made their way through Route 3. Great mountains and rock faces surrounded them which must have been a great sight at some point in history but an area like this was greatly affected by the earthquakes. The mountain still stood but the entire route was covered with crumbled rock which _had_ been brushed away but still formed ugly piles on each side.

Steel consulted his pokégear and began counting through the cities to go through on their trip through Kanto.

* * *

***Before suggesting I did some counting wrong just don't forget that a few places were destroyed.**

* * *

**That's Pewter City down, the next stop is Cerulean City : The Floral Lagoon City.**

**I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter so please review with any suggestions, comments or questions for the series! :D**


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm _so_ sorry for the wait.**

**Holidays where I wake up at 12 each day + Homework to do = Not getting these out as quick as I'd like to :(**

***Sigh* but I hope you guys enjoy the chapter and the twist (That I actually finished it ;) )**

* * *

Cerulean City's nickname was the floral lagoon and Steel could see it was for _very_ good reason.

The grass was lush and covered with beautiful flowers that specked the green with light shades of yellow and orange. There was another set of rocks which had only vaguely fallen. On the other side of a river that honestly looked like liquid sapphires.

It was definitely a sight for sore eyes after having to clamber over the hill of grit that was Route 4 and Mount Moon. Steel had become so tired staring at the boring blend of brown and grey that he was almost overwhelmed by the beauty.

He was riding on Ferro's back, using the iron spikes jutting out of one of the boulders that made up its snake-like body to keep his balance, while Lore the meganium was plodding along with Copper riding her.

Steel had tried to talk to Copper but found that the immense sound of iron on rubble was too loud for Steel to hear her even when they were shouting so they'd resolved to rest and continue the journey in silence, well, they weren't talking.

Ferro's head and neck were blocking Steel's direct view and he wasn't able to hear Copper yelling at him so Ferro had snaked right up to the border before he stopped and Steel cursed. Not that they could do much to change the past, Copper and Steel had wanted to stop attracting attention to themselves but Steel sighed, _Was there any point anymore_? he wondered exasperatedly.

He carefully jumped off Ferro and recalled the massive Pokémon while Copper returned Lore then immediately began glaring at Steel.

"Why don't you just carry fireworks with you wherever you go?" she asked in a deadpan tone with hints of annoyance glowing in her eyes.

"It wasn't my fault." he mumbled unconvincingly but he knew that it was, just because he hadn't wanted to walk the whole way. He sighed, "No, it was." he admitted.

Copper looked over the buildings of Cerulean City. The entire place was surrounded by either trees or water and she spotted three paths leading out of the city. They spied six houses and four other buildings.

The corners of Copper's mouth turned up slightly, "So let's just ask around and see whether she's passed through here."

They walked along the well-kept stone path through the town when something occurred to Steel, "Copper, what speciality was Whitney again?"

Copper frowned in concentration, "I think it's normal. The Plains in Goldenrod were probably playing on that fact."

Steel frowned, "So she'd have a flying-type on her..."

Copper shrugged, "She probably would have flown considering the fact that she didn't pass through Pewter City but she could have stopped anywhere. We can assume that she didn't land in any Zephyr controlled cities so all we need to check are the remaining four cities." she looked at Morty's pokégear on her arm, "Which are Cerulean, Saffron, Celadon and Fuchsia."

"Hey!" someone called and the two teenagers stiffened up. Copper shook her arm so the grey sleeve of her hoodie would fall over the pokégear which nobody was supposed to have.

To their surprise the voice belonged to a boy their age, maybe younger. His light brown hair was short and casually messy while he had similar coloured eyes. He was short for his age and wearing blue shorts, a white sleeveless shirt and leather sandals which clapped loudly against the stone path.

"Hey!" he repeated with a grin, "Was that steelix yours?" he asked them but Steel was reluctant to answer. There was an expectant silence but then the boy pouted and crossed his arms, "What's the matter with you two? Meowth got your tounges?"

Steel shifted his weight nervously, "No." he said slowly, judging what to say, "We're just passing through."

The boy grinned, "I'm gonna read that as 'shy'." he clapped his hand together, "My name is Cain now you tell me yours."

Copper folded her arms and scowled mildly at the condescending tone but found no reason to be needlessly aggressive when they weren't going to stay long, "I'm Copper and my friend here is Steel. We're trainers from Mahogany Town." _This way we'll be safe from anyone who tries asking around in Pewter City_, Copper reasoned.

Cain nodded happily, "So which one of you has the steelix?" he wondered enthusiastically and Steel half raised his hand. Cain's grin widened, "It's _so_ cool! I'm a trainer too but I don't have any fully evolved ones. Do you..." Cain wanted to continue his fan rambling but was interrupted by someone jogging up to him.

She was on the line between a late teenager and young woman with her hair twisted up in a ponytail. She looked so similar to Cain that they must have been siblings. Her face was stern and her hands were on her hips.

She glanced at Steel and Copper with a look of apology before turning to her brother, "Cain. Why did you run off all of a sudden? People pass through all the time." she chastised but she was smiling to show she wasn't really mad.

"Sorry. I saw a steelix and wanted to meet its trainer." Cain explained and his sister looked to Copper and Steel.

"One of you has a steelix?" Steel nodded and Cain's sister looked them up and down, re-evaluating what she'd thought of them, "So where are you from?"

"They're Copper and Steel and they're both trainers from Mahogany." Cain supplied.

His sister nodded, "That would explain how you have such a strong Pokémon on your hands. Can we help you in any way?"

Copper looked around the city distractedly as she talked, "We're just looking for our friend. Has a woman with pink hair come through in the last week?"

Cain's sister shook her head sadly, "Sorry but no-one like that's passed through to my knowledge. Then again, Cerulean's a pretty big city so she could have come through and met someone else." she turned to face the city's centre and gestured for the two to follow her, "I'll see if anyone else has seen her."

Steel and Copper followed Cain and his sister to the Pokémon centre. It looked like all the others with half yellow and half salmon coloured walls along with a cream tiled floor sporting a neon green and black pokéball in the middle of the room. A computer sat atop the nurse's desk and there were two escalators leading up to the second floor where, in Cerulean City, there were lines of beds, sofas and doors leading to shower rooms.

The nurse had very long blonde hair that curled down her back in tightly packed ringlets with a small white hat sitting on her head like a crown. Her appearance looked very glamorous despite the typical and not very fashionable uniform yet she had an air of such friendliness that even Copper wasn't suspicious. Unlike Bliss she was on the other side of the line between creepy nice and genuine nice.

"Kenda," the nurse greeted at the sight of Cain's sister. Kenda walked up to the desk and leant on the red table top, giving way to the two young trainers.

"Hey Dawn. Cain quit on me and found these two trainers. They're wondering whether a woman with pink hair has passed through in the last week. Has anyone like that come through?"

Dawn thought about it for a few seconds but then shook her head, "If they have then they didn't stay long. Sorry."

Steel raised his hands and smiled, "It doesn't matter. If she's not here then she's not here."

Copper put her hands on her hips but then as her hands brushed the pokéballs on her belt she remembered the state of Bruce and the rest of her Pokémon who'd fought the Zephyrs in Pewter City.

"Um, can I heal my Pokémon while I'm here?" she asked and Dawn nodded happily.

"Of course." Copper walked forwards and handed over the pokéballs of Jolie, Bruce and Belinda. She looked back to Steel, "Do you wanna heal Antheia and Charlie?"

Steel nodded and took out the two pokéballs. Dawn took the five and placed them on her machine. Copper and Steel listened to the little ditty then took back their Pokémon.

"Thanks." said Steel.

Copper looked around the Pokémon centre, "I was just wondering about something. We've been through quite a few towns and cities but I haven't seen a place like this before."

Kenda had to take a moment to understand what Copper meant by that but once she realised it she laughed, "You mean 'not fallen to pieces'?"

Copper rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly, "I mean, you have all your buildings and you actually have trainers."

"Well Cerulean City's always been a resourceful place. We're actually quite used to flooding and not many of us were in the war so we were prepared on that front."

"Plus the brunt of Kyogre and Groudon's attacks was directed at Johto." Dawn added.

"So a lot more cities in Kanto are pretty much normal." Kenda continued, "We worked together with Pewter City to make our cities stable. It's a shame that they've been targeted recently by the Zephyrs." Steel and Copper thought so too.

Steel turned to Copper, "If that's all them we might as well be leaving now."

They faced the doors but Cain was looking at the two of them with a massive grin on his face, "Do you guys have to go immediately?" he asked and Steel and Copper quickly exchanged glances.

Copper shrugged, "It's not like we're in much of a rush."

"Then can you guys battle me? Kenda and I'll go two-on-two if you want."

Steel looked back at Copper to check whether she'd object but once he saw the grin on her face it was set.

* * *

Kenda and Cain took them to the Nugget Bridge which was named after the magnificently painted golden bridge that spanned Route 24. It shone so brilliantly in the midday light that Steel was almost blinded. The river ran underneath it and some parts of it turned from liquid sapphires to molten gold in the lighting.

Steel couldn't even imagine how much better it must have looked all those years ago before it had been patched up with bits of random wood and metal sheets. He couldn't deny that it still looked impressive but it was sad to him that even a city as remarkably recovered as Cerulean bore traces of the scars that that war had left behind.

Steel looked around with a confused expression, "Is this wide enough to have a double battle?"

Cain glanced down at the sides of the bridge like it had only just occurred to him, "Oh yeah..." he said dejectedly.

Kenda clapped her little brother's shoulder then looked up to Copper and Steel, "Do you have two Pokémon that aren't massive?" they both nodded and the older teen spread her hands, "Then everything's alright, isn't it."

They nodded again and they began getting into position with Kenda and Cain standing on the north side then Copper and Steel on the southern end.

"We'll each have two Pokémon; first person to lose both loses the match for them and their team. No substitutions will be allowed and we'll throw first." Kenda's voice sounded like an announcer you'd get in a proper arena. She looked encouragingly to her sibling before they both hurled pokéball into the air.

The first was a short armless Pokémon burst into the battle. It was primarily blue with two purple antlers coming out of each side of its head and three navy stripes on the front of its body. Another Pokémon with large white claws and a mass of brown spikes on its back appeared next to Wooper.

Steel remembered the warning of using small Pokémon as he quickly thought through his Pokémon and ended up throwing out Lancer while Copper threw out Dwaine. Cain was disappointed that he wasn't going to face the steelix but knew that Dawn would be lecturing him for years on end if the bridge ended up breaking thanks to him.

Lancer buzzed happily but Steel was introduced to another side of Dwaine. The Pokémon's red eyes were focused and it had lowered its centre of gravity. He could sense the amount of experience and training that Pokémon had had as an elite four's.

Cain and Kenda met their opponents' eyes quickly to check if they were ready then the battle began. Kenda wasted no time attacking Dwaine with rollout while Cain commanded Wooper to use water gun on Lancer.

Lancer shot upwards and successfully avoided the attack while Copper had decided for Dwaine to face the attack head on by blasting the rolling Pokémon back with night slash. Sandslash was forced from its curled-up position and barely avoided crashing against the golden fence.

"Pin missile!" Steel called and Lancer shot his stinger-like arms forwards, sending a similar shaped blast at Wooper. It crashed into Wooper but it wasn't enough to knock it out.

"Wooper, use mud shot!" Cain retaliated and the small water/ground-type hurled itself at the hovering beedrill. It jumped into the air and swung its tail around. A ball of mud used the momentum of the movement and flew at Lancer. It slammed into him but Lancer held his ground and was only pushed back as Wooper landed back on the bridge.

Kenda and Copper called out moves at the same time but Dwaine was the faster of the two so his critical and super-effective ice punch connected with Sandslash's stomach. Copper was very much impressed that Sandslash wasn't knocked out then and there but the battle had only just started after all.

"Come on Sandslash!" Kenda yelled cheerfully and the mouse Pokémon* stiffly and slowly got to its feet. Kenda smile was wide and didn't fade when she faced her opponents, "Use swift!"

A mass of stars burst from Sandslash's paws so thick and furiously that Lancer and Dwaine, with all their speed, couldn't evade the attack.

Lancer buzzed angrily and Dwaine cried out with an unusual mix of a roar and meow but the attack wasn't a particularly powerful one.

"Pursuit!" Steel shouted and Lancer made like a dark-type tackle at Wooper while Dwaine pounced once again at Sandslash.

Wooper was hurled back but Sandslash and Dwaine began a heated flurry of ice punches and fury cutter.

"Wow, you're really good for your age." Kenda complimented and Copper paused but then she smiled happily.

"Thank you. You're great too." Copper returned. Their Pokémon broke apart and they prepared for a second match.

Wooper smashed into Lancer using slam and Lancer was shot backwards. Cain grinned with triumph but Lancer retaliated much quicker than the boy had realised. Steel had ordered pin missile but Lancer had other things in mind, something Janine had taught it.

Instead of using a long ranged attack Lancer shot forwards, its wings buzzing loudly, and it brought back its stingers mid-flight so they could swing forward at the right moment. The white cones were rapidly covered in a dark purple glow which indicated the extra power to the punch.

Wooper would have raised its arms to defend itself but it didn't have any so it couldn't stop poison jab from crashing into it.

Cain cried out as his Pokémon fainted but Steel's yells were those of victory. He hadn't won yet but it felt nice to battle properly with Lancer again.

"Good job, Lancer!" he called to his Pokémon and Lancer straightened up proudly.

Kenda's attention turned to Steel and Cain then she remembered that it was a double battle, not two battles running alongside each other.

"Sorry bro." she called out before sending Sandslash at Lancer.

Cain recalled Wooper and tucked the pokéball away. He took another out and turned with renewed energy, "Go, quilava!" he shouted and his second Pokémon landed on Nugget Bridge.

It had navy fur but a cream coloured underbelly as well as plumes of hearty fire sprouting from its head and back, forming a mohican and a tail of flames.

Copper frowned at the new Pokémon as something occurred to her. It actually took her a few minutes to make the connection and in that time Dwaine had had to fight of the quilava's attacks which were more powerful than the Wooper's.

Copper was kicking herself after the battle since she'd been so distracted but it was one of those moments where the unmade connection jabs at the back of your mind and refuses to desist until you make it.

"Sorry!" she apologised quickly, "Dwaine, low kick!" she commanded and Dwaine darted forwards at the new Pokémon.

"Use pursuit!" Steel yelled. As cool as it was that Lancer had learned a new move Steel knew that poison jab wouldn't be very useful against a ground-type like Sandslash.

Pursuit was about to hit but in that moment Dwaine collided with Lancer, sending them both off-course. Lancer's wings had to go into over-drive to avoid going over the bridge's side, taking Dwaine with him, but when he stopped and Dwaine lost momentum the weavile fell onto the Nugget Bridge, unconscious.

Copper frowned and returned her Pokémon. Daydreaming during a battle wasn't a good thing to do at the best of times but at least she'd finally connected the dots.

"Isn't that a lab Pokémon?" she asked and Cain nodded proudly.

"Our mum found it years ago on Route 4 then gave it to me for my tenth birthday." Copper found it funny how they were having a conversation while Steel and Kenda fought, "Why?"

Copper shook her head nonchalantly, "Just wondering. All I knew is that those Pokémon were special." she wanted to elaborate but Sandslash had just been thrown into the gap between them, blocking their view of each other.

Copper groaned when she found the Pokémon had fainted. That left Steel and two to her negative one. _He _is_ fighting with a more familiar Pokémon_, she reasoned but then all reason seemed to go out the window.

It was another successful battle for Lancer and Steel couldn't be happier. Lancer seemed to be glowing with joy but then…he started _literally_ glowing.

Everyone took a step back and stared, the battle ceased and silence pervaded Route24. Steel frowned at his eyes flickered from Lancer to Copper.

"I thought beedrill can't evolve."

Copper had no idea what was happening, "It…can't. Can it?" for some reason she found her mind turning back to their battle with the Zephyr leader in Olivine City. Whatever was happening to Lancer it wasn't something she'd come across before.

* * *

The pokégear hidden in Clara's personal set of drawers was buzzing and the woman had no idea what to think of it. She realised that she probably shouldn't have put it there since it was only through luck she'd caught it ringing and even then, who knows how long it had been trying to call her for.

She looked unsurely at her husband who was sleeping soundly after such an exhausting and worrying day. She was worried about the Zephyrs returning too but Chris' shoulders held more weight than hers did, not that she was free from responsibilities.

She took the pokégear quickly and darted out of the room so her husband wouldn't hear her talking.

"Hello?" she asked hurriedly, hoping that the called hadn't been waiting long. She paused to listen to the other side.

"Two children? Yes…Yes, they just passed through…Why would you be looking for them? They don't seem dangerous…I'm sorry but they're gone now…Yes. They're looking for her. Is _she_ why you're looking for them?...Well there's not much I can do now but I'll be keeping an eyebrow and report straight to you if they find her." Clara listened to the caller's final response before closing the pokégear. She ran a frustrated hand through her hair and sighed. Deals from the past were a pain but Clara had always had a thing about following up on promises.

* * *

***Sandslash is called the Mouse Pokémon. Go figure. The funny thing about doing research for these chapters is that I learn a lot of funny names for things.**

* * *

**What is she up to I wonder?**

**Just as a warning to you guys that this story _will_ be shorter than the other two because their journey won't be covering a lot of places since there's no point in looking in places Whitney obviously wouldn't go to just for the sake of exploring post-war Kanto. That's what the epilogue will be for.**

**It won't be just one chapter but a whole bunch of chapters about what happens after this journey is over so that's something to look forward to but even with those chapters I'm probably not going to reach 20 this time.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review with any comments, questions or suggestions for the series so I can improve this! :D**


	5. Chapter 5

As unbelievable as it felt to everyone there the incredulousness hadn't even begun its sheer incline for the transform had barely started.

Under the cover of the glow Lancer began changing. Everything about him began getting longer and sharper. His wings, his abdomen, his antennae. Steel saw his legs become more like a stinger while his primary stingers became longer and more like traditional lances.

The glow shattered and the new Lancer was revealed to all. His eyes looked like they'd been wrapped around his now rounder face and more stripes had been added to his former legs.

It hovered slightly off the ground and looked happily at his trainer but then tilted his head in confusion at everyone's shocked expressions.

"Lancer evolved _again_!?" Steel couldn't believe what he was seeing. Lancer met his trainer's eyes and didn't understand the concern and worry he saw there. Lancer remembered the time of being a weedle and then a kakuna, he also remembered Brooke, Antheia and Ferro evolving. Why were the humans treating him differently?

The battle was forgotten now. Cain glanced up at his sister and found her deep in thought. All eyes fell on her since she was the only one who seemed to know what in the world was happening.

"We need to see Dawn." she said simply and without question they all began running down towards the Pokémon centre, recalling Quilava on their way but leaving Lancer flying behind them.

Steel was drowning in worry for his Pokémon as they ran down the route to the building at the town centre, he didn't know what had happened to Lancer and was concerned about whether it was bad but he had the suspicion that is actually wasn't. On the short journey Steel could already tell that Lancer was faster and his expression, from what Steel could tell, was that of happiness like any Pokémon when they evolve. The main problem was that it's impossible.

Dawn was mid-way through greeting them when she noticed all their shocked expressions. She looked around for the source of their concern but when her eyes locked on Lancer she paused.

"Dawn?" Kenda asked her friend after a long moment of her being silent, "_Is_ it?"

Dawn stroked her chin thoughtfully while the others waited expectantly, "You're right, Kenda. This...is mega-evolution."

Steel furrowed his eyebrows, "What's that?"

Dawn heard that his voice was full of worry and put on her best reassuring face, "It's a phenomenon that's beginning to appear in Pokémon lately, something to do with genetic mutations over time. It's giving certain Pokémon _another_ stage." Dawn took a deep breath and leant against the red-topped desk, "Some Pokémon like chansey and golbat evolve by having a great bond with their trainers. It's this same power combined with the right Pokémon and experience that can unleash 'mega-evolution'*."

Steel sighed in relief. At least nothing was wrong with him but knowing what it was called didn't mean that his confusion was gone.

"So he just evolved again?" Steel clarified.

Kenda nodded, "Probably. If what I know is correct then the changes aren't as drastic as regular evolution but besides that it's identical."

Cain looked from Dawn to Kenda, "How do you guys know so much about it?" he asked and Kenda's eyes widened, as if she hadn't realised he didn't know.

"From the house on Route 25. It used to belong to a Pokémon researcher so it's full of cool information. Dawn and I used to go down there all the time." Cain appeared quite miffed that his sister hadn't taken him to any such place and Kenda caught his look, "I'm sorry I never took you but Dawn's mum didn't want us going anymore. She said it was dangerous."

But Cain didn't seem to be put off by that fact, if anything his eyes lit up, "But can you take us now? With all of us we won't be in danger."

Dawn twirled a strand of her golden hair around her finger distractedly, "I'm sorry but my shift won't be over for a while. But I'll cover for you if anyone starts looking for you."

Cain grinned excitedly, "That's fine for me."

"Can I come with you two?" Steel asked, "I'd like to learn about this 'mega-evolution'."

Kenda put her hands on her hip and smiled, "I wasn't intending to go without the two of you." she frowned slightly, "But I'm not sure how useful the information'll be. There's not an awful lot about it there." Steel nodded in understanding. They began walking out but Steel met Lancer's eyes and a wave of guilt crashed down on him. He'd been treating Lancer so poorly for nothing.

"I'm sorry, Lancer."

But Lancer just looked at him happily. He hovered upwards and his antenna pricked up. All of Steel's tension and worry had been transformed now into excitement. He returned Lancer to his pokéball and jogged to catch up with the others, unable to hide his smile. He couldn't wait to battle alongside his mega-evolved Pokémon.

* * *

Like Route 4, Route 25 had several mounts of rubble where the hills had crumbled but it was _much_ better to look at than the former. Lines of trees had been salvaged and there were still a few patches of wild flowers. At the end was a small little house with a chimney poking out of the green-tiled roof.

"Does anyone live there?" Copper wondered.

Kenda shook her head, "No. People leave the house alone because it's safer to stay with each other in the city."

"Then why is it in such good condition?"

Kenda chuckled, "It's quite funny really. A bunch of rock fell on it and not only did it _not_ get crushed, it was protected from all the disaster because of it."

Copper smiled, "That's lucky."

Cain was the first to reach the door. He rattled the door knob and slammed his shoulder against the wood but it didn't move, "What gives?" he tried slamming the door open again but Kenda shook her head.

"You've got to pull up then turn the handle." she instructed.

Cain obeyed and the door swung open noisily. He looked back at his sister and pouted, "Wasn't this place untouched?"

Kenda shrugged and walked inside past her brother, "_Almost_ untouched." she stressed. Her head turned away from her brother to the inside of the house and she gasped.

The inside of the cottage had lots of papers strewn across the wooden plank floor and several drawers were open without having been closed again. A laptop was lying on its side and had several keys torn from its keyboard. A small worn bed in the corner looked as if it had been ripped apart and the whole place was an utter mess.

"It's been ransacked!" Kenda exclaimed and the three teens' eyes widened in fear. There was only one group who'd do something like that.

Kenda crouched down and picked up some nearby papers, quickly scanning them to find a connection. Steel, Cain and Copper bent down to do the same but all the papers Steel picked up didn't seem to have much in common.

There was one about the differences of Pokémon found in Johto and Kanto, one about extinct Pokémon and one was about pokégears. Whoever lived here must have varied a lot in expertise.

"I can't believe the Zephyrs would trash a place like this." Kenda growled.

Copper carefully put a green book with a broken spine back on one of the book cases, her face still in thought, "I don't think so." she muttered but they weren't making enough sound for her not to be heard.

All eyes fell on her, "What do you mean?" Steel asked her.

Copper took out another one of the books and flicked through as she spoke, "This is too careful to be pointless destruction, I mean, what do all the papers have in common?"

Cain looked down at the sheets he was holding but shook his head, "I don't get it."

"We can still read them?" Steel guessed and to his surprise Copper nodded.

"I think they were looking for something but they tried to hide that fact by messing up the place."

Steel glanced around once more with that in mind and began to see what Copper was talking about. Folders were perfectly closed on the floor like they'd been placed there instead of being thrown down. Only a few of the keys had been pulled off the keyboard and only the bed showed any signs of damage beyond simple repair.

"Then...What were they looking for?" Kenda asked slowly as she took the scene in.

Copper closed the book she was holding shut, "Don't know. But it would be best if we found out."

So the four of them began searching. Steel looked through numerous files and folders but found nothing that seemed out of the ordinary until...

"What's a pokédex?" he thought out loud.

"A database on all known Pokémon species trainers used to have. Their production stopped around the same time as the pokégear. Why?" Kenda wondered.

"There's a bunch of information here but a lot has been ripped out so I thought it might be important." Steel replied.

The file was titled 'POKÉGEAR : PRINT' and had an almost uncountable number of facts about an almost uncountable number of Pokémon but the problem was that many pages were missing. Steel could tell because each Pokémon was numbered. There was number 143, snorlax, but the next number was 147 which was dratini.

Steel explained this to the others and they began trying to find out which Pokémon were the missing three. Cain knelt down next to the desk and righted the laptop. He pressed the power button and found that the laptop still worked. He hadn't seen enough keyboards to have a flesh memory of the missing letters but after messing around in one of the virtual notebooks he managed to fill in the gaps.

On the laptop he found a document titled the same thing as the papers in Steel's hands and once he double-clicked it an identical file popped up. He was scrolling down the endless pages when he realised you could directly search for the numbers. He rolled his eyes and cursed himself silently before typing in the appropriate numbers.

He gasped and everyone turned to him.

"What is it?" Steel saw fear in Cain's eyes.

"Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres..." he explained cryptically.

Copper's head snapped around, "What?" her voice was panicked. Steel wished he knew more but at least one of those names sounded familiar.

"Those are the missing numbers. They belong to Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres." Cain elaborated.

Steel looked around with a confused expression on his face, "Um, who are they?"

Kenda met his eyes incredulously, "You don't know? They're three legendaries that apparently serve under Lugia."

"Legendaries?" Steel asked nervously and she nodded.

"The Zephyrs are definitely up to something. They were after information on Ho-oh and Lugia in Pewter City." said Copper, "What information did the researcher here have on them?"

Cain scrolled up and down the file, "Not a whole lot. It's got their typing and a list of myths about them but most of the information is about Articuno. It says that someone actually caught it but it was released a lot of years ago."

"Someone caught a legendary?" Kenda's day seemed to be one unbelievable thing after another.

"It was a champion." Cain explained, "Doesn't leave a name though." his sister looked over his shoulder and they continued reading the information on the screen.

Steel frowned. If the Zephyrs were doing something serious then they'd have to find Whitney fast before she's put at risk. He was _not_ going back to city having to tell Janine her best friend had been killed.

He met Copper's eyes and she gave him a thumbs up to show she understood, "Kenda? Cain?"

They both turned their heads around, "Yeah?"

"We should be going now. Our friend's not here and as cool as Cerulean is we need to move on now." said Copper.

Cain frowned but nodded all the same, "Okay. Where are you going after here? It's either Saffron City or Lavender Town."

"We're gonna take our chances with Saffron City. If not we'll just go past it to Celadon." Steel said.

Kenda smiled at them, "I hope you find your friend safe and sound but can you tell Dawn we're gonna be here for a while? I want to see what else they've done here."

Steel and Copper nodded and left the small cottage. Steel was happy that there were only a few more places they'd have to visit but there was now an uncomfortable feeling of fear building inside him. The last time legendary Pokémon had been summoned a city had been poisoned, an eternal storm had surrounded Kahto and two regions had almost been destroyed.

He tried to shake that thought out of his mind. He had to focus on finding Whitney first. He could worry about anything else _after_ they'd accomplished at least that.

* * *

***I know that in the games you need the megastones and it's not permanent but it works in a **_**slightly**_** different way in the Pokémon Rust universe.**

* * *

**Woo hoo! Happy 5th + 54th chapter!**

**Something amazing happened in Cerulean City, they _didn't_ have anything bad happen to them which is more rare than you'd think. That must be kinda sad for them.**

**I'm also sorry for such a filler chapter but the next one will be better.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter and if you did or didn't please review with any comments, suggestions or questions for the series so it can improve! :D**


	6. Chapter 6

The shields around Saffron City were definitely odd. It was like a pink cube jammed in between a mass of trees. It wasn't very well hidden so the defences must have been good if it hadn't been breached in all the time it'd been there.

Steel had just finished flying around the city's perimeter on Lancer who was much faster than he'd been beforehand.

"It's pretty cool." said Copper, "Mega-evolution, I mean. I guess it shows us yet again that Pokémon have so many surprises hidden in them and it does explain a few things." Copper's face had darkened somewhat so Steel was almost afraid to ask her to explain but his curiosity was very strong, "The Zephyrs' leader. His pidgeot was _not_ normal and now we know why."

Steel grimaced. It's amazing how the mere memory of that _man_ could ruin any feeling like how a night out could curdle milk.

"Did you find a way in?" Copper asked, eager to change the subject.

"Well, I didn't expect her to leave any entrances for us." Steel sighed as he recalled Lancer.

"Yeah. Sabrina _did_ hold up daily attacks for almost a year. She wouldn't have fallen to casual Zephyr attacks."

Steel frowned, "Maybe she wouldn't have let Whitney in either..."

Copper strolled over to the pink shield and cautiously stretched out her arm. She slowly tapped on the ethereal wall. The moment her knuckles made contact with the wall a massive blast of force shot out and threw her into the air.

Steel cried out as she crashed into the dirt path. Copper winced in pain and Steel ran to help her up but she waved it off. Steel glanced from the city's boundary to Copper and was amazed at the distance it had thrown her.

Copper got unsteadily to her feet and rubbed her arm, "That's _one_ way we're not getting in."

Steel flipped open his pokégear and consulted the map app, "We can't really pass through without checking. What if she's in there?"

Copper furrowed her eyebrows at her friend, "What choice do we have?" she asked sadly, "If we can't get in, we can't get in. I don't particularly want to have to face an aggressive gym leader and her city but that's what we'll get if we press her any further."

But Steel still wasn't convinced, "What about..." he didn't get to complete his sentence because at that moment another burst of psychic energy hurled them backwards. Copper kept her footing but Steel was caught in the back and pushed onto the ground face-first. He brought his hands out to break his fall but found there was no need because he stopped.

He was stuck in mid-air and unable to move, by himself or by gravity, but he at least recognised the sensation. _Psychic_? Steel thought because his mouth couldn't move to form words. From what he could see Copper was in the same situation. She was stuck in a braced position with her face paused in an expression of shock while she glowed softly with a pink aura.

Steel knew that whatever was going to happen wouldn't be good for them but there also wasn't a lot of choice for them.

"I wonder what problem Clair has got herself into this time." there was a mysterious voice from behind Steel. The two trainers were pinned in the air so they couldn't see who the voice's owner was but it was condescending like a teacher reprimanding am ignorant class.

There was a slight humming sound and the pink aura around them intensified as they began moving. Steel was being picked up and turned around like a marionette puppet.

There was a small moment of shock when Steel was turned to face a tall and proper-looking man who was looking down on Steel and Copper through frameless glasses. His light purple hair was short and neat and he was wearing a light blue jacket.

There was a very strange Pokémon next to him. It had a round cute face that didn't suit the angry expression it bore. It had navy horns on its head and it was pressing its glove-like hands flat against thin air as if it was solid.

The Mr. Mime and its trainer seemed to have teleported there since Copper had been looking in that direction without noticing them enter but despite the threatening atmosphere Steel was curious. This man was obviously from Saffron City after all.

The man's eyes narrowed into a glare, "Why are you two attempting to enter Saffron City?"

"We just wanted to check whether our friend had passed through?" Steel explained.

He just crossed his arms, "What makes you think they would have been allowed in?"

"We're looking for Whitney." Copper said bluntly and the man's eyes widened. Copper sensed his incredulity so she held up her pokégear for the man to see, "We're trying to find her for the League."

The man hesitated and the glow around them vanished so Copper and Steel were no longer pinned in the air, "Well them..." he was interrupted by the humming sound returning and a glow appearing around all of them. It wasn't the Mr. Mime but the answer was cleared up quickly since in the next second they were being teleported.

The room was dark blue and full of almost sci-fi looking decorations. Steel and Copper were frozen once again in front of a black platform with a high back as if it was a large throne but the three of them there were focused on the woman standing in the middle of the 'throne'.

Although she looked more like an empress rather than a regular woman. Her black hair ran down her back like a silky waterfall and her pink eyes were startlingly vibrant, menacing and made-up. She held herself with the aura of dignity and power that many would attribute to royalty but it was the energy surrounding her that was scary.

She wore a simple pink dress the same colour as her eyes along with a white long sleeved jacket. She had a necklace of black metal with a neon green gem hanging from it but wore no other jewellery besides that.

Thankfully her attention was on the man who'd been originally confronting the two while the jynx next to her was using psychic on Steel and Copper.

"Johan." Sabrina's voice was every bit as steely and demanding as her eyes, "Why have you forced my hand yet again to dispel intruders personally?" there was something about her monotone that conveyed anger without actually being raised or forced.

Johan bowed his head in fearful shame.

Sabrina turned to Steel and Copper and glared at them, "Why have you come here?" she demanded.

"W-we were just looking for Whitney and I didn't want to miss a city she could be in." Steel said hurriedly.

Sabrina swiped her hand through the air and psychic faded, allowing Copper and Steel to crash onto the blue floor below.

"I'll tell you two exactly what I told her. Exit my city immediately. The problems and concerns of the League no longer concern me."

Steel's eyes widened in shock, "She was here?"

Sabrina gave her a look of disgust, "She came to Saffron City a week ago, crying. I was forced to listen to the petty complaints of a weak woman for two entire days before I could _convince_ her to leave."

"What did you do to her!?" Copper growled.

Sabrina put a hand on her hip while inspecting her nails nonchalantly, "We were both gym leaders so we dealt with things the only way the League seems to do. We fought and I won. It honestly wasn't much of a challenge but she lost and went on her miserable way."

Steel couldn't believe her, "I let her in because she refused to go away, similarly to the two of you, and I was well aware of the danger her being out in the open.

"Because of her foolishness in the past we are all suffering in the present and I was not going to let her put all my citizens in danger."

"Danger? Aren't you a stronger trainer than the Zephyr leader?" asked Copper.

Sabrina looked as if she'd been force fed poison, "Falkner alone but he has an army while I have a mere city. My shields have fallen once before. I am not invincible and will not put Saffron City in danger."

Copper remembered the League telling her of the Indigo Plateau's fall and was mortified.

"What do you mean by 'her foolishness'?" Steel asked, still angry at her having insulted Whitney so much.

"It was the League's foolishness actually but she and Janine played more than their part in swaying their opinions. Blaine, Clair, Koga and I voted to execute Falkner because we feared the devastation he almost unleashed then and has been unleashing now."

Steel froze in shock. Clair? The thought was preposterous, wasn't it?

"Don't act so surprised." Sabrina said tersely, "You may have a naïve depiction about what the 'champion' is like but that image is false. You can ask anyone in Kahto to verify that fact, or Hoenn for that matter."

There was silence. As it grew a small, almost satisfied, smile crept onto Sabrina's face as she looked at their shocked faces but it didn't reach her eyes.

"Where did she go?" Copper through clenched teeth and ready to leave.

"Celadon City, though I wouldn't recommend you follow her there."

"What? Why not?" Steel was beginning to get sick of this woman's voice.

"Erika was one of the gym leaders not to go to the Indigo City, no? Now what do Cherrygrove and Saffron City have in common?"

"They're walled." Copper answered shortly.

Sabrina nodded, "But ironically Celadon's walls are more mental than just shields. It is rather to leave once you've entered."

That was the final straw. Whatever trap had been laid in Celadon City Sabrina had sent Whitney straight into.

"Dark pulse!" he shouted as he threw a pokéball into the air. He hadn't really thought about what Pokémon he would use, just the first one that came to mind.

Knucker burst out and had no qualms about attacking the first person he saw, that being Sabrina, but she was less than impressed. Her eyes narrowed and she held out her hand.

Dark energy shot out in a ring around Knucker, blasting nearly everyone back, but he was stranded in mid-air by Sabrina's psychokinesis.

"Idiots." she hissed. Sabrina didn't speak aloud but her jynx began advancing as if she'd called out a move.

Jynx held out her purple hands and a freezing gust billowed out from it. Steel didn't have time to realise how stupid he was. He started running to avoid Jynx's attack but was immediately caught in Sabrina's psychic web.

The attack was like ice but it cut right through him, ignoring his clothes and skin and freezing him from the core. He cried out and there was a bright flash next to Copper who was also stuck.

Dwaine appeared on the floor and instantly leapt at Jynx. Night slash struck and shot Jynx against the wall.

"Johan!" Sabrina called, her voice sounded breathless despite having been talking normally for a good while beforehand.

The man nodded and his Mr. Mime jumped at Dwaine, his glove-like handed raised. Dwaine managed to dodge but was acting without orders since Copper couldn't talk. Knucker was furious that he couldn't move but was surprised to find Steel feeling angry as well. A common hate was good enough in the pupitar's book.

Knucker clenched his eyes shut and little particles of sand began appearing and swirling around him. They built up until he was the eye of a small sandstorm.

Mr. Mime dived in front of the attacking Pokémon and leant his hands on mid-air, forming a transparent shield against all the sand. Steel and Copper were soon belted with sand but Sabrina's hold on them had been cut.

Steel sighed in relief and straightened up, "Dark pulse!" he called and Knucker attacked again.

"Use night slash!" Copper yelled and both psychic-types were smashed into with the dark-type attacks. It was a bit confining to be using the same moves over and over but in a battle against two adult trainers they'd need the advantage.

Green energy swirled in Jynx's hands and energy ball shot directly into Knucker. He crashed into a wall and fainted. Steel quickly returned him and cursed himself. Knucker was fighting alongside him which was good but Sabrina not having to call out her attacks meant she could catch the two young trainers by surprise.

"Low kick!" Copper called and Dwaine swept Jynx off her feet but the damage wasn't particularly great.

"Brooke, use bite!" the seven foot big jaw Pokémon landed in the battle and charged at Mr. Mime.

"Confusion!" Johan commanded and Brooke was stopped in her tracks. She hovered for a moment before being hurled at the wall.

"Water gun!" Steel yelled and the blast of water hit the wall just in time to slow Brooke's collision.

"That's a pretty fast feraligatr." Johan admitted before sending his Pokémon out again.

He, Steel and Copper were battling intensely but despite having her Pokémon fight as well Sabrina was looking quite tired of the battle. But she let it go on. Dwaine and Brooke were more powerful than she or Johan had expected so they were battling for longer than she'd anticipated.

The boy and girl were fools but they were also distractions. Saffron City rarely got any action considering the fact it was enclosed so the battle was almost a welcome reprise.

_Frost breath_, she ordered mentally and Jynx obeyed. The cold air shot at the feraligatr and weavile, freezing them in their tracks finally.

_Energy ball should finish them off_. Sabrina was well aware of the fact that they had more Pokémon but expected them to admit defeat sooner or later.

Energy ball crashed into the frozen Pokémon. Their inability to move only made the attack more effective. If you combine that with the weavile's prior damage and the super-effectiveness it was no surprise that the next moment both of them slumped into unconsciousness.

They both cried out in shock but to Sabrina's annoyance they both reached for a second pokéball after recalling the others. She threw out her hand so she could resume control over the two children and halt them.

"Enough." Sabrina said. It was becoming increasingly difficult over the years to hide the exhaustion that plagued her and she was annoyed that she'd let it show during the battle. She was ashamed to admit that he'd partially caught her off guard.

"You children should be punished but fortunately for you I do not wish to trouble myself with pests." she said scathingly, "Avoid or enter Celadon City, I do not care, but I will not allow you to _ever_ return to Saffron City. If you find your goal I hope you get everything that's coming."

And ending on that ominous note an alakazam materialised next to the gym leader and psychic light filled Steel and Copper's eyes.

The next second they landed onto dirt with a hard thud. They'd been teleported at least half a metre above the dirt so they both got up sorely.

Steel's anger hadn't been disappearing quickly but once he was out of her presence it began drifting away at a faster pace. He brought his pal up to his face and groaned at his stupidity. Who knows how badly she could have beaten them if she got serious?

Copper didn't dare touch the shield again but saw that there was something wrong with it. Though it was only momentary she saw the pink in the shields fade until they almost wasn't there. The colour returned by the time Steel had turned around to see was she was looking at but her shocked expression was still there.

Steel didn't ask what was wrong, feeling that he'd caused enough trouble to pry, so instead he looked down the path that led to a city clearly in view. He would have been perfectly happy to dismiss everything she'd said as her trying to fool them but despite everything she said sounding like a trick, none of it sounded like a lie. Maybe that was worse.

The idea of a 'mental trap' scared him but he was relieved to think that Whitney was so close. Their journey so far seemed _much_ shorter than the one they'd had before.

"How many has it been now?" he asked vaguely. It took a while for Copper to get the joke but then she laughed. It was a nice sound to Steel.

"Ecruteak, Goldenrod, Azalea, New Bark Town and Saffron City. Five cities is pretty impressive for two people our age to be banned from." the thought _was_ ridiculous but there was a slight hint of pride in Copper's mind, as if it was an accomplishment.

The two began strolling towards Erika's city, happy to put Saffron City behind them, but Copper couldn't help wondering, "How long has she been holding those shields?"

* * *

**As much as it's not nice to listen to someone constantly bad-mouthing others I do enjoy writing Sabrina. I hope the whole thing about 'it's easier to write characters who are like you' is false because if that's true then I'm a psychopathic jerk.**

**I know there wasn't a lot of time to explore backstories but that's the problem with writing a journey where you don't stay in one place for very long. You come up with all these complicated pasts for characters but can't express them all.**

**So anyway, according to this cannon Sabrina kinda became a psychic/ice-type specialist as a sign of respect to Pryce and believe me, you'd be acting like a bit of a b**** if you had to be working almost constantly for fourteen years.**

**And next chapter we find Whitney! (Probably) but it will not end there. The finale hasn't even begun yet.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter and if you did or didn't I'd appreciate some comments, questions, suggestions or advice so it can improve! :D**


	7. Chapter 7

Steel and Copper cautiously strolled into Celadon City. Similarly to Saffron City the place was surrounded by trees but they managed to see much more of this city than the previous one.

To their side was the bright orange roof of the Pokémon centre and there were several unique types of buildings as far as Copper could see. There were several tall buildings and they spotted a bright purple roof with neon lighting.

Copper rubbed her eyes. She found her sight getting blurry but she'd expected as much since it was beginning to be late. They followed the grey stone path through the city and Copper felt each step become equally heavy and light.

Even in the dimming light they could see that Celadon City was a very beautiful place. It wasn't the bouquet that was Cerulean but in the centre of town there was an elegant water fountain in between two tall tree-like lamp posts*. The golden light reflected off the small waterfall and Copper stood still for a moment, listening to the calming sound of constant water but then she focused herself. Copper scanned the town for any signs of other citizens.

Steel yawned and smiled as he peered at a sign post planted in the ground near where they were standing.

"Celadon City: The city of the rainbow's colours." he read and he looked around at the buildings. If he looked north he saw a very unusual building. The first metre or so from the ground up was blue and used a lot of glass but from then on the building imitated all the regular grey and green houses spotted around the city. He looked away and concentrated on the green, orange, blue and purple roofs. "I can see that." Steel said idly.

Copper nodded and breathed deeply. This town may not be as floral as Cerulean City but it smelled just like a flower shop. But then she shivered. The lack of sunlight was soon turning the air around them cold so she pulled up the small, grey scarf-like neck of her shirt over her nose to keep warm.

"I wonder where Whitney would be." Copper's eyes locked on an important looking building to the south. The shape looked like a regular gym to her so she tapped on Steel's shoulder, "Do you want to check out the gym?"

Steel bit his lip, "If it's going to turn out like last time then I'd rather pass."

"Why couldn't you have had that mindset on Route 8?" she muttered. Copper held up her hands in resignation, "We can leave it for later if you really want." she looked at a nearby blue topped bungalow, "How about we check there?"

Steel smiled and nodded. He made his way over to the flat, white wooden bridge but then frowned as he looked down on a pond that blocked the entrance to the house.

"What's the point of that?" he wondered but Copper shrugged. She said something about robbers before placing a foot carefully on the thin line of grass between the pond and the fence. Copper gripped tightly on the white wood to keep her from falling into the water as she shuffled her way past the little pool.

Steel tried not to step on the tiny mass of flowers as he followed suit but there wasn't a lot of space in the small house's front garden.

Copper leaned over the flower box and rapped on the window expectantly but after over a minute of waiting there was no reply.

"Maybe there's no-one in there." she suggested but Steel shook his head and pointed to the flower box.

"I don't think so. The garden seems quite well-kept to me so it's likely that someone lives in the house."

Copper glanced down at the yellow and green petals, no sign of wilted flowers there, "Sleeping perhaps?"

The two managed to get back to the bridge and from there they began trying to get answers from any of the houses but there wasn't a response from any of them. After checking five houses that looked like actual houses and getting no response from any of them they'd decided that they weren't going to get anymore no matter how many houses they tried so.

"Okay, now the gym." Steel beamed.

Copper smiled back but it wasn't nearly as large as her friend's but they were so close to their goal that it was easy not to care about what meeting another gym leader could result in.

There'd been a simultaneous weight and levity growing in her walk with every step she'd been in Celadon City. It was strange but soon there was no sun left in the sky and not a lot of time to waste worrying about sleep.

Copper and Steel were now facing a wall of trees next to several buildings facing away from them. They both followed the wall of trees so tightly knit that they actually prevented anyone from passing until they found a small spiky bush covering the entrance to a path.

After a short attempt to get around the bush had left them all scratched up with needles sticking out of their clothes Copper held out Jolie's pokéball and the lovely ninetails appeared before them.

Jolie spat flames at the bush and it soon caught on fire. Jolie used her large plush tails to bat out the small fire and when she was done there was a neat path open for one.

If it had been anywhere else Copper would have assumed it was a ghost town but everything was just far too well-kept for that. She returned her Pokémon and the two teens began strolling down the path.

There were too houses either side of the gym but Copper had given up on anyone answering them so she turned to the centre building. There was a large green sign with a white symbol similar to the upper half of a pokéball.

Copper sighed and looked back to Steel. His eyes were locked on a space in midair but they were unfocused and sleepy-looking and his shoulders were drooped. She smirked and waved her hand in front of his face, hoping to make him jump or something but instead he yawned, a smile creeping onto his face as he did so.

"Steel?" she furrowed her eyebrows then yelped as all of a sudden his knees buckled. She quickly grabbed the back of Steel's navy jacket to stop him from falling face-first onto the stone pavement**, well from that distance. It was too much of a surprise and he was too heavy for her to stop him entirely.

"Steel!" she cried and when she tried lifting him to his feet but it was like he'd suddenly become a rag doll. His head lolled on his neck but from what she could see there was a goofy smile on his face. She almost let him drop again. Copper had no idea what had happened to him.

Copper wasn't particularly strong and suspected that all she'd be able to do is drag him so she threw out Bruce. His eyes widened in surprise at the sight of his trainer holding up Steel by the back of his jacket.

"Something's up. Can you help me carry him inside?" Copper asked exhaustedly. Bruce gave his trainer a thumbs up and picked up Steel. The boy was larger than the Pokémon and even though Bruce's real strength was in his legs he could carry Steel.

Copper threw open the double doors and held them open so Bruce could escort the now sleeping Steel. Copper had no idea why he suddenly fell asleep.

She and Bruce walked inside the gym and Copper immediately recoiled. Even through fabric was covering her face up until her nose the scent of flowers was overwhelming. No wonder, the Celadon Gym was full of decorated arches covering in blooming bushes and vines.

Copper's feet clapped on brown bricks but when she looked her view was blocked by all the arches. Bruce had set down Steel near to the doors but out of the way. Copper smiled appreciatively at her Pokémon then recalled him.

She didn't feel right leaving Steel unprotected sleeping like that but even after kicking him gently he wasn't waking up. Copper began to worry the worst but the gentle rise of his chest, and more-so the sound of snoring, assured her he was still alive.

Nothing was going to wake him so Copper turned towards the end of the gym and began weaving through the archways.

At the end of the gym there was a small grassy platform and to Copper's surprise there was a woman sitting there.

It wasn't Whitney. This woman had shoulder-length, silky, midnight black hair and she was kneeling in a long mostly yellow kimono decorated with floral patterns and tied with a similarly decorated green ribbon that was tied in a bow on her back. Her hair was kept from obscuring her porcelain-like face by a similar ribbon acting as a hairband.

She was very beautiful. Her posture was perfect and she radiated grace but in a much different way to Sabrina.

The woman was arranging flowers in numerous glass vases standing in a semicircle around her but Copper was easily noticed strolling in onto the scene. The woman looked up with earthy brown eyes but her face only showed minimal traces of surprise.

"Good evening." she greeted in an equally graceful voice. She gestured to the vases, "Would you like to join me?"

Copper stood still, looking unsurely at her, "Not particularly." she admitted, "Are you Erika?"

She smiled sweetly, "That is my name. Would you kindly tell me yours?"

Copper quickly scanned the rest of the platform. There was no-one else there, "Copper." she answered.

"Please sit down. It's late and it's always so awkward when you can't meet your guest's eye."

Copper sat down cross-legged on the grassy floor and met Erika's eyes, starting to feel more at ease. The gym leader smiled.

"Isn't that better? Now, where are you travelling from?"

"We just came from Saffron City." Copper silently wished that she hadn't said 'we' like that but Erika either didn't notice or didn't care.

Erika frowned but looked beautiful regardless, "Poor Sabrina. I think she should take a rest and relax."

Copper scowled, "I doubt she deserves it."

"You shouldn't scowl. People don't find it very attractive you know."

Copper's cheeks were turning pink before she knew it which only made her scowl harder.

"What about your home? Where do you come from?" Erika asked. Copper bit her lip. She hadn't expected her to be so inquisitive. The silence lasted over a minute before Erika realised that Copper wasn't going to answer.

"I understand that there may be sadness in your past but Celadon City is a happy place. I don't see why you can't share your pain so it need not bother you anymore. If you share it then it'll lose half of its power over you." Erika turned back to her flowers but Copper was still, too deep in thought.

She couldn't get Sabrina's warning/threat out of her head, the one about the 'mental trap' in Celadon that stops people from leaving. Erika seemed perfectly happy but maybe that was the problem. Had she looked to the east at all?

Copper was fine with people getting on with their lives but even the cheerful people she'd met carried some sort of weight. Celadon City almost seemed unnatural.

She eventually decided that information was a two-way bridge so she broke the silence, "I'm from Johto, Ecruteak City to be exact."

Erika was staring into midair, her face caught in a wistful expression until she realised that Copper was staring.

She smiled with embarrassment, "That's Morty's city. It's a shame but I haven't been there in years. I just couldn't find the time and it's quite far to travel when one is in charge of a city. Why have you travelled such a distance when you're so young?"

Copper was miffed, "I'm fifteen. And I was travelling with my friend." she looked the gym leader in the eyes, still wary about her, "The League sent us to look for Whitney so we've been searching Kanto for her."

Erika looked away from Copper in thought, "Why would she be in Kanto? Her gym is in Goldenrod City. If you wish you travel there quickly then you simply go to Saffron City. There's a train station there that connects to Goldenrod."

Copper gave her an incredulous look but Erika didn't react to it, "We know she wouldn't in Johto." Copper explained.

Erika nodded, "Okay. Then what of your friend?"

Copper automatically glanced back and when she turned back she saw Erika trying to make out what she was looking at.

"Are they waiting near the entrance? They can join us if they'd like..."

"Never mind." Copper interrupted, "He fell asleep as we were about to come inside. I couldn't wake him up to he's just sleeping over by the doors."

Erika's eyes widened but then she sighed, "If he won't wake up then there doesn't seem to be much we can do in that regard." Erika stood up and tried looking over the arches at the doors. She nodded to herself and then turned back to Copper, "If you don't have any objections I would like to move him. Sleeping on bricks isn't very comfortable or warm so it's best we move him to someplace comfortable."

Copper got up, "Do you have anywhere in mind?"

Erika nodded, "My house is to the west of here. It being next door makes everything much easier for me."

Erika glided through the arches and saw Steel snoring on the floor. She held out a pokéball and Copper yelped as a large Pokémon materialised in front of them.

It was two metres tall and made pretty much entirely of blue vines. It had long arms ending in red and two stubby little legs.

"Okay Tangrowth, can you carry him to one of my guest rooms please."

The tangrowth obeyed and picked up Steel in its arms. Erika and Copper held the doors open for it but even then it nearly hit its head on the doorframe.

Copper and Erika followed it outside and Copper looked around. From outside the gym she couldn't see a lot of the city but she wondered whether anyone had come to see Erika or anything. Sadly there weren't any more people in sight.

Erika pushed open the unlocked door to the right of the gym and Tangrowth ducked his head so he could make it into a small corridor.

"The first room should be fine." Erika called before noticing Copper's confused expression.

She inquired and Copper frowned, "Do you know where everyone is? We checked nearly every building and found no-one."

"It's late." Erika said simply and she invited Copper inside. There were several doors in the corridor which lead up to a staircase. The three headed up the stairs with lead to an almost identical corridor. Erika opened up the first door and led Tangrowth into a small room with a single bed in the corner as well as a neat set of drawers sitting under the window.

Tangrowth rested Steel on the bed but Copper frowned. It was unusual for Steel to have fallen asleep so suddenly then not wake up through all the commotion. From her experience Steel wasn't exactly a light sleeper but certainly not a heavy one. He definitely should have woken up when Tangrowth picked him up.

Erika glanced out the window and saw how dark it was.

"Copper, would you like to stay the night until your friend wakes up? I used to live with a lot of friends but they moved to other regions some years ago for education so now I help out any travellers."

Copper thanked Erika as the woman led her to another room. Copper didn't like the idea of going to bed but there wasn't much choice if Steel was fast asleep. She sat on the bed which had pink floral patterns and listened out carefully for Erika. She heard her go down the stairs and open one of the doors there then there was silence.

Copper didn't want to suspect Erika since she'd been so kind to her and because it was _Sabrina_ who'd planted the seeds of doubt but it was hard to ignore. Copper waited a few minutes in her room with Raiden to keep her company but then she got up and quietly walked into the corridor.

It was funny how darkness made everything look infinitely creepier. The sharp and large shadow she cast was constantly trying to trick her into thinking that there was someone behind her. Thankfully Steel's room was just across the corridor.

Copper slowly turned the handle and pushed open the door so it didn't make too much of a sound but when she entered she didn't really know what she'd been expecting.

Steel was still snoring. He was lying on top of the sheets and kept moving slightly. Copper frowned as her eyes rested on his face.

It was plastered with an almost insane smile. Copper's eyes widened in fear. She never would have believed there'd be a day when Steel of all people scared her. It must have been the memories of the Zephyr leader that unnerved her so much even though this smile was different. It wasn't malicious but joyful even if it was too a crazy level.

Copper tiptoed over to him and began shaking his shoulder violently; hissing his name and trying to wake him up without alerting Erika to the fact she was awake. He still didn't wake up.

Copper threw her hands up in silent frustration but walked out anyway. Maybe he'd been exhausted but didn't want to tell her.

But she wasn't tired at all. She didn't want to return to her room so instead she decided to do some exploring. Copper knew that she couldn't go down the creaky staircase so she resolved to check every door on the second floor.

Out of the six doors there two were bedrooms Erika had given to the two so Copper only had to investigate four more.

Two were empty bedrooms almost identical to hers but then she thought she'd found something different on the third. She peered in and saw a wooden floor instead of a dark green carpet like all the other rooms had had but it turned out to be a bathroom.

Copper sighed, hoping the last room would yield some results which would prove Sabrina wrong about Erika and Celadon City.

She gripped the door handle and turned it with only minimal noise. Copper pressed one hand on the wood to open it safely and she pushed the door open. Copper noticed the wallpaper which made her think she was going into yet another bedroom.

Copper snuck inside then wheeled around to make sure the door didn't slam shut behind her. She turned away from the door and quickly scanned the room. There was identical wallpaper and an identical light hanging from the ceiling. The floral curtains were closed but were fluttering softly to prove there the window was open. This room, similarly to the gym, had a strong scent of flowers in it but Copper froze as her focus wandered towards the floor.

There was a woman. Her hair was pink and spread messily on her floor near her head. She wore a mostly white outfit and one of her arms was resting limply on the best despite the other being under her body in an awkward position. She wasn't moving and her eyelids were half-open, revealing just white since her irises had rolled back into her head. She wasn't moving and her eyelids were half-open, revealing just white since her irises had rolled back into her head...

Copper screamed.

* * *

***Street lamps, street lights e.c.t...**

****Sidewalk**


	8. Chapter 8

Erika heard the scream and dropped her cup. Its contents spilled onto the table but she had already darted out of the room. She had both of her hands out and tracing the banisters like a bird's wings as she sprinted up the staircase.

"Whitney!" she cried but when she was about to throw open the door to her room she found it was already open and Copper was standing in the doorframe, her hand clasped over her mouth.

The teenager's eyes were locked on Whitney who was lying lifelessly on the floor in front of her. Erika gasped and the sound brought Copper back to life.

She rapidly turned around and faced Erika with a face overflowing with rage and terror. Copper had heard Erika's scream. She knew this was no coincidence.

Copper had to get out. She had to get away but she was trapped with Erika blocking the doorway and Steel was still knocked out.

"What did you do to Steel!?" Copper demanded, unable to keep her fear out of her voice but thankfully having enough anger to cover it.

"C-Copper. Please..." Erika raised her hands as a sign of peace but Copper was too confused to act rationally.

"What did you do!?" Copper yelled and Erika began trembling. The curtains fluttered and Copper clutched her head as a sudden pain stabbed it.

Copper almost leapt back at the sight of a pokéball in Erika's clenched hands but Whitney's body behind stopped her. There was a flash of metallic light and Copper was helpless as a vileplume appeared between the two.

Erika's eyes were clenched shut, shutting out the two others in the room. She took a step back and hugged herself.

Her voice was quiet and shaky, "Sw-swee-"

Copper unfroze. Adrenaline from the fear allowed her move again. She threw a pokéball down and Raiden burst out. Erika cried out in shock and moved back further, allowing Raiden more space. Sadly Copper was no match.

They both called out moves at the same time so Copper didn't hear what she'd ordered. All she knew was that within a few seconds something had hit both her and Raiden. Her sight went black and all feeling disappeared from her body, sending her crashing into the floor. There was a sound of metal falling onto carpet before all of Copper's senses faded into nothingness.

* * *

Copper opened her eyes which was a surprise to her. She'd expected not to since she'd been attacked.

She was lying on something soft. She felt warm and she had something comfortable wrapped around her. Copper shot upwards and the blanket fell off her. She tensed and her eyes darted around. She was back in the room Erika had given her but it was empty.

Copper saw that it was daytime out the window and she tried guessing how long she'd been knocked out. She walked up to the window and noticed some people outside. They were walking unusually like sleepwalkers.

Copper threw out Jolie, Raiden, Jolie and Bruce since they could fit inside the house. She threw open the door and walked out onto an empty corridor. She sighed and kicked open the door to Steel's room but found that he was actually still there.

She looked to Bruce and asked him to carry Steel for them. Once he was safe with Bruce Copper led her Pokémon through the house, cautious of attacks every step of the way but the house was now empty, even Whitney had disappeared.

Copper scowled but at least they'd be able to escape now. Copper's eyes fell on Steel and it felt like an icy knife stabbing her in the gut. Was _this_ the mental trap Sabrina had been talking about? Erika forces you to stay by taking either your life or the life of someone close to you away!?

Copper took a deep breath. She had to calm down.

Erika was a gym leader but hopefully her initial hesitation was a sign that a surprise attack may be able to defeat her. She would burn Celadon City to the ground if Erika refused to wake Steel up and tell her what the hell she did to Whitney.

But the weird thing was that Copper was making an effort to stay angry. She kept having to remind herself that she was livid but her mind was finding it hard to focus on that.

She approached the gym and threw out Lore for the extra force.

"Use magnet bomb, razor leaf and ice shard." Copper ordered and Raiden sparked angrily before releasing a massive blast at the double doors.

Sadly the doors were the type that opened inwards so they didn't quite blow up as she'd wanted to but the sound was good enough for her.

The arches blocked her view of the gym so Copper was about to ask Jolie and Raiden to destroy them but Erika's voice interrupted her.

"Copper." she actually sounded quite commanding which was a drastic change from the china-like voice she'd shown until then.

Copper's rage reignited, "Undo whatever you did to Steel or I'll destroy your city!" she yelled. Copper jumped a bit when Erika stepped out of the shadows being cast by the archways. Copper was confused to see tears in her eyes.

"They're both fine. They're just sleeping." she explained.

"I'm not bluffing, Erika." Copper growled while trying to ignore her headache, "Just ask Azalea."

"They're not dead. I promise. They're just getting some rest."

"How do I wake him up?!" Copper demanded. Sensing their trainer's anger, Lore and the rest stepped forward threateningly.

Erika raised her hands in protest again, "Don't make me do it again. I don't want to make the world lose another person." her voice was becoming shaky again.

"Then why don't you just tell me?!"

Erika hesitated, "Because I don't want you to wake her up."

Copper had no idea what in the world she was planning, "Why not? She might as well be dead if she never wakes up and I won't let Janine lose her last friend to someone like you."

"She was just so miserable...It's awful to see people close to you being hurt so I helped them."

That was when it finally came together for Copper. That line felt like the last shred of wrapping paper that allowed you to see the entire present for what it was. Erika's vileplume attacking her, the constant flower smell everywhere...

"You're using pollen on everyone, aren't you?" Copper concluded but she couldn't believe that it had taken her that long to realise it. She balled up her fists and tried getting angry again but she just couldn't. Copper was aware that she was probably being influenced but there was also something about Erika's face and the genuine sorrow there.

"How long have you been drugging travellers?" Copper asked, managing to sound somewhat intimidating, but then Erika burst into tears. She fell to her knees and started sobbing. Copper stepped back and was completely thrown off by the crying woman before her.

"Please, just tell me how to wake them up!" Copper pleaded and Erika sniffed, trying to compose herself.

Erika was silent for a moment.

"Heal bell." she spoke quietly after a time, "Your friend's miltank has the ability to wake them up."

"How did you know Steel has a miltank? And that she can use heal bell?" Copper questioned.

It took another while for Erika to answer, "I-I healed your Pokémon while you were sleeping."

_So Dwaine's alright then_, Copper thought in relief. Copper backed up, careful not to let Erika out of her sight as she picked up Steel's jacket and took it off his limp body.

She dug through the inner pocket and paused. There was something other than a pokéball in there. It was thin and papery but Copper didn't want to take it out and investigate with Erika nearby. She took out Charlie's pokéball and held it out so the milk cow Pokémon appeared.

Copper was thankful of Steel's Pokémon respecting her so Charlie obeyed her when Copper asked her to used heal bell on Steel.

The gentle sound of a bell echoed through the Celadon gym and a wave of green light wafted towards Steel. His eyelids began fluttering for a moment then they shot open.

Steel inhaled sharply in fear but then realised he wasn't falling as he'd believed.

Bruce helped Steel to his feet as he shakily began to acknowledge his surroundings. His eyes locked on Erika who was kneeling on the floor with tears rolling down her cheeks. But he smiled and tilted his head in a comforting way.

"You okay?" he asked in a dreamy voice and Copper's eyes snapped back to Erika.

"Why is Steel still smiling like an idiot? Why are we not being affected?" she asked Erika. Her eyes were red from crying but were regaining some sort of strength as they focused on Lore.

"I've been around grass-types all my life. They don't affect me as they would other people. I assume you're in a similar situation. Steel will recover once he gets some fresh air."

Copper crossed her arms. She frowned slightly and Steel who was swaying slightly but then she looked back, "I don't know why you're acting like this has been wrapped up. I'm not leaving until I get some answers and Whitney is with us."

Erika shivered and Copper realised that she may have gone too far. There was no need to worry now she knew what to do and Steel was...awake.

It was after a long wait but eventually Copper broke the silence. She turned to her Pokémon and looked meaningfully at Steel.

"Take him outside the city. Please make sure he's safe." Lore nodded and used her long neck to shepherd Steel out of the door. Steel didn't look back but Copper couldn't help but worry.

She sighed quietly and looked back to Erika. Copper outstretched her hand. Erika furrowed her eyebrows in confusion but Copper kept it out for her.

"Please, just help me and I'll help you."

With the help of Copper Erika stood to her feet, her pale face tinged with red from crying and embarrassment.

"I know what I did can't be justified. The fact is that I took my citizen's lives from them regardless of whether I killed them or not. It's just that...I asked them not to leave Celadon City for their safety but the despair still got to them all. So I wanted to protect them the only way I knew how." Erika admitted.

Copper frowned and she glanced up to the end of the gym, "Then why did you take in Whitney? I know you pretend not to but you know what's going on outside, don't you?"

Erika nodded stiffly, "I needed to protect her too. She came to me for help so I couldn't abandon her especially after..." she cut off herself.

"If the Zephyrs found out about her you all would have been destroyed. Don't you know that?"

"Sweet scent would have stopped any attack. They'd either fall asleep or not want to fight."

Erika was a lot less ignorant than Copper had thought once she'd been honest with her but it still sounded like delusion to Copper. The Zephyrs would have simply blown away any defence Erika could have put up but Copper was beginning to feel bad about making the gym leader cry as she'd done so she didn't say it aloud.

"Erika..." the woman met Copper's eyes again.

"Yes?"

Copper turned to the end of the gym, "I want to wake her up. Whitney may be in a bad state but we made a promise to Janine."

"Do you really think that you can solve years of sadness?" Erika asked quietly.

Copper eventually shook her head, "Of course not. I doubt Kahto will ever fully recover at this rate but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to at least make things better. That's why she left in the first place after all."

Erika sighed, "If you want your friend and Whitney to recover then you should take them away from the city. But after that you'll be going into some danger. My duty is Celadon City so I cannot leave to help you."

Copper nodded and looked to Charlie. The miltank nodded and began running in Whitney's direction. Copper soon joined her with Erika soon behind her but paused before asking the Pokémon to do anything.

Whitney was now lying on a white blanket laid out on the floor with a pillow under her head. Her pink hair was shoulder length and straight but tucked behind her ears so you could see her yellow triangle earrings.

She was wearing a white jacket which had a tomato red lining with matched the beaded bracelet on her wrist. She wore a long jean skirt and white boots as well.

Her face was so contented in sleep and Copper was wary of the fact that that would change once she woke up but they were so close to their goal that she couldn't stop. Copper didn't want Janine to lose anyone else to that monster.

"Charlie, use heal bell."

Copper held out her stubby hooved arms at Whitney and the green light floated in her direction. It hit the woman's face and her eyes began opening.

Erika knelt down next to Whitney and waited for her to get up.

She slowly rubbed her eyes drowsily but then she furrowed her eyes in confusion. She met Erika's eyes but didn't say anything. Whitney groggily sat up then froze when she realised Copper was in the room.

She cried out in fear but then stopped when she felt a hand rest of her shoulder assuringly.

"You're safe." Erika reassured her. Whitney was breathing heavily but when looked over and saw Charlie Whitney calmed down.

"Is this your Pokémon?" she asked, careful not to raise her head to meet Copper's eyes.

"No. But she's my friend's." Copper explained, her voice full of uncertainty.

Whitney frowned but still didn't look up, "Who's your friend?"

"Steel and Copper are my guests." Erika explained.

Whitney groaned and brought her hands up to her head, "Why is my head...?" she didn't finish as something had just occurred to her and she interrupted herself, "Erika. What on earth happened to me?" Whitney asked, sounding more serious.

Erika backed up in shock but then Whitney gave Copper a suspicious look infused with fear, "You...You're from Indigo!"

Copper sighed, "Yes. And I'm here to bring you back."

Whitney staggered to her feet and continued glaring at Copper, "Well...you can tell Clair that I'm not going back."

Copper shook her head, "Clair didn't send me. She probably doesn't even know we're gone. Janine was the one who asked us."

Whitney's eyes widened but then narrowed unconvincingly, "I told her. I want to help."

Copper crossed her arms, "So do I. Janine's my friend and I refuse to let her lose yet another friend to that monster."

Whitney's eyes flashed with genuine anger, "Do you honestly think you know them better than me?! Janine's my best friend and I thought she'd understand."

Erika walked between the two, "Please don't fight." she looked to Whitney, "Whitney, they came here to help you and I think they deserve the chance. You can't go alone. Vermillion City is just across the sea and they both have strong Pokémon."

Whitney's face was full of hurt, "You think I can't defend myself?"

Erika forced herself to shake her head, "I just think the extra protection will be better. You don't _want_ to die, do you?"

Whitney paused the looked away. She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, "No." She said quietly. She looked back to Copper, "But I'm not going back. I know Vermillion, Viridian and Lavender Town are off limits, as is Johto, but I've got to help. I was gone for so long that I can't abandon them again."

Copper was silent for a while as she thought things through until finally she said, "Fine. I want to help Kahto as well, Steel too, so I'll go to wherever you want in Kanto to help."

Whitney frowned at her, "Really?"

Copper glanced back in Steel's direction, "We wanted to explore Kanto on our way anyway. Might as well do it knowing we don't have to interrogate everyone on our way." Copper smirked and punched her palm, "Plus, I want to beat up some Zephyrs on my way."

Charlie mooed disapprovingly but Copper smiled at her, "Come on, Charlie. Steel wants to too, he's just too polite to say it." Copper tapped the pokéball on Charlie's forehead and the Pokémon disappeared into the pokéball.

When Copper looked back to Whitney she looked as if she'd just been unthawed but then Erika smiled at her, "I think it's the best option you have. This way you get to help Kahto and maybe you'll prove to Clair that you're perfectly fine on your own."

Whitney nodded but was looking kind of dazed for some reason Copper didn't understand. It wasn't sweet scent but there was something different about it.

"I'll trust you, Erika. I've been nothing but a target since you came here but..."

"Don't believe it. Sabrina didn't mean a word. You've got to understand that." Erika said quickly, "You're a brilliant person and I believe you can show everyone that."

Whitney nodded and the two women began walking towards the exit of the gym. Copper soon joined them but then Erika stopped at the door.

Whitney looked back at her in confusion, "Erika?"

A small gust blew Erika's black hair, casting a shadow over her face.

Copper stopped too, worried, "Erika?"

To their surprise, Erika smiled. She threw a pokéball into the air and a cute blue Pokémon appeared next to her.

It cheered then Erika met its eyes.

"Jumpluff, please use fairy wind."

"Erika, what are you...?" Whitney didn't get to finish her sentence because Jumpluff had already began rising, spinning as it did so and creating a gust of glittery wind as it went. The wind became stronger and stronger until it felt almost like a tornado. Copper and Whitney fought hard just to stand still but Erika seemed unfazed.

Copper and Whitney had no idea what was happening until it had dissipated.

"Erika...?" Copper began but there was something new about the air now. It was lacking the smell of flowers.

Erika smiled at Copper, "I've let them go."

* * *

**I know this was a bit fast paced and very late but I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.**

**Whitney has been found but now the problem is getting her back without dying. But first, a small detour.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter and if you did or didn't I'd appreciate if you reviewed with any comments, questions of suggestions for the series so it can improve! :D**


	9. Chapter 9

Steel was slowly regaining his mind and it was the weirdest sensation he'd been through yet.

His thoughts were originally things like dazed emotions stringed together with words but slowly the words became more articulate and, sadly, less happy. Lore was next to him and kept comforting him but only after a good five minutes did he start to notice her.

"Sorry, Lore." he mumbled after a while.

"_Megan_*..." she said like a sigh.

Steel still had a headache and the memories of the past day seemed like a dream fading into the back of his mind but everything was much clearer.

Steel, Lore, Jolie, Bruce and Raiden were resting in Route 16. Steel was sitting on a staircase imbedded into a small slope. He had his fingers laced and was hunched over slightly as he thought.

Steel had no idea what Copper was doing. He remembered her telling her Pokémon to take him away and Charlie's pokéball was missing but all his memories felt as if they submerged in water.

Now Steel had regained his mind he was beginning to get bored so he began playing catch with Copper's Pokémon with a fairly large stick and it was actually pretty fun so he sent out Brooke and Antheia.

Antheia enjoyed watching on the sidelines with Raiden while the others really got into the competition.

When the Pokémon who could began throwing the stick back Steel took off his jacket and started really getting into it. Bruce was the eventual winner by the time Copper's shouts made everyone freeze and look around.

Copper was running up to them past the corridor made of carefully lined trees. Lore and the rest of her Pokémon grinned and ran over to join her and Steel was happy to see someone who could tell him what in the world had happened.

So he'd thought until he noticed the woman behind her, then all chances of understanding the situation were hyper-beamed in the face. Pink hair, pink eyes, a white jacket like in Goldenrod...

"Whitney?" Steel looked to Copper for confirmation and she nodded. He couldn't believe it. They'd done it. They'd finished their journey.

"She was with Erika and agreed to come with us. To Fuchsia City." It was at that point where Charlie walked from behind the two to Steel's side.

Steel grinned at her, "Hey Charlie. I was wondering where you were." then what Copper said sank in. Steel frowned, "Fuchsia City?"

Whitney nodded. She was an incredibly pretty woman but sadly her outfit reminded Steel of Blair. She wore a white jacket and had a metal lined yellow badge pinned to it above her heart.

"I know you two want me to come back to Indigo City but thankfully your friend said she wouldn't. But Erika wanted you two to come along with me, safety in numbers right?"

Steel smiled at the news but exchanged glances with Copper to try ask her what was going on. However Copper didn't even attempt to communicate back. Steel trusted Copper but couldn't help but wonder what she was up to.

Whitney walked up to the group of Pokémon and beamed at them. She crouched down petted Jolie's head. Jolie grinned back and enjoyed being stroked for a while.

"Are all of these yours?" she asked incredulously, going past each one of the Pokémon there.

Steel shook his head, "The feraligatr, miltank and gloom are mine, the rest are Copper's, but we both have others as well."

Whitney beamed, "That's pretty impressive for two teens. I love Pokémon, they're all so cute!" she looked back to them, "What else do you guys have?"

Copper looked up in thought, "I also have a weavile and a dragonair."

Steel glanced quickly at his Pokémon, "And I have a sort-of beedrill, a steelix and a pupitar."

"A 'sort-of beedrill'?"

Steel tried to come up with an explanation that _didn't_ make him seem crazy but that was quite a difficult task, "He...um...evolved again."

Whitney definitely thought he was crazy.

"So why Fuchsia City?" Steel asked, changing the subject.

Whitney's smile faded, "I want to see what's happened to it and help out the people there, for Janine since she can't be here personally."

Copper looked to Steel's face, expecting him to be happy at the prospect of helping, but found a dark shadow of worry in his eyes.

He looked away anxiously, "We should be careful about that."

"Why? Copper said you were the type who'd love to help."

Steel sighed with regret, "We _should_ help others but we've got to be careful." his voice became quieter, "It was my fault after all...that Bugsy died."

Whitney's eyes widened, "You did what?!" she was looking at Steel with something like fear, "When did this happen?!"

Steel was quiet so Copper felt the need to elaborate, "It wasn't your fault. It was the Zephyrs." Copper was firm but her tone softened as she turned to Whitney, "We asked Bugsy to help out in Goldenrod City for us but the Zephyrs had taken the place of the Plains and they killed him."

Whitney's expression was hollow, "Plains? What do you mean?" she fiddled with her badge unconsciously as she spoke.

Steel met her pink eyes, wondering how they could lack colour while still being so bright, "They were a small gang which controlled Goldenrod City for some time. They were led by a man called Blair who was actually a Zephyr."

"What's happened to Goldenrod now?" Whitney asked with worry.

Steel shrugged, "We asked Bugsy to help out there and sort things out but how far he got, we don't know."

Whitney frowned then sighed, "Sorry." she straightened up and looked to the south, "Anyway, we should get going. Fuchsia City isn't much of a walk, there's a cool bridge nearby that leads almost straight to it."

Steel smiled, "Okay." he returned all his Pokémon and Copper did the same so it was just the three of them walking.

Whitney seemed to know Kanto a lot better than they did so neither of them were particularly worried about letting her lead the way.

They walked over a pile of rubble which Steel assumed had once been a building of some kind then they strolled onto a large grey bridge. It stretched over an entire body of water to reach another part of Kanto which seemed like a very long walk to Steel. Once upon a time it probably would have been a quick and easy way to travel but its state was not comforting in any way, shape or form.

Several chunks of the bridge had cracked or fallen off and there were sparking wires rimming the edges. It was high above churning water which looked plagued with rocks and debris.

But all these facts only seemed to be of slight concern to Whitney. She stepped forwards and began walking cautiously, not wanting to step on particularly fragile sections of the floor.

Copper followed her example but kept glancing up at the sky which made something scarily clear to Steel. This bridge would make them goldeen in a barrel.

However it was also apparent that they didn't have must choice in the matter. It was the only way to Fuchsia City without flying or backtracking since it bridged two cliffs that would be impossible to climb from the water.

He jogged up to them and the three went down the bridge together.

Despite having his nerves build to almost astronomical levels Steel always loved talking with trainers from before things went bad. They all had such interesting ideas and were so enthusiastic about Pokémon. Whitney was definitely an enthusiast.

From what the other gym leaders had told them about Whitney Steel had been unsure about what kind of person she'd be but so far she came off as a very passionate and friendly trainer.

"Jan and I were both very new gym leaders at the time and we'd both inherited our gyms from family members so in that respect we had a lot in common. She was much more skilled than me, still is, but without their help I would have never won a battle."

"So why did you choose normal-types?" Copper wondered.

"Well my uncle used them and I already had a miltank. I know people think that normal-types are the weakest type but I love them. Every time Mil-Mil beat someone I felt so happy because I could prove them wrong."

Steel smiled. He remembered Karen saying something like that.

* * *

Worthless. Blair was worthless just as Bugsy was worthless. Goldenrod seemed to be such a wasted effort. Everything there was worth had been destroyed long ago so he didn't even know why he'd even bothered taking it back. I guess it was the people there. Their 'resistance' to Blair and his people had been potentially dangerous so Falkner supposed his time hadn't been completely wasted.

Attacking the Indigo Plateau was a force of habit so he did it even though it was time consuming but now he was in Kanto. Pewter City hadn't yielded anything new but Bill's house had been very useful to him.

At least with his plans now he could complete many things at once. Destroying the Seafoam Islands and Fuchsia City in one strike would only be half the benefits he'd gain. Zephyrs over Kahto were getting the message and soon their plan would come into fruition.

Pidgeot was speeding through the air above Kanto while Falkner rode on its back, surveying the land below and keeping a careful eye out for anything of interest. And so there was.

At first Falkner couldn't believe it so Pidgeot swooped down for a closer look. Then there was no doubting it. Pink hair isn't very common so it was almost definite but the deal breaker was the other two heads he saw.

Orange, silver and pink. Rage filled every part of him. They...survived?! He'd...failed?!

Falkner took out his gun. Not again. He took aim, careful not to aim for the head or heart, but then he stopped. They hadn't noticed him. He would not them get away.

"Pidgeot, use air slash." Falkner commanded and no guard enabled mega-pidgeot never to miss.

The bridge was fragile anyway so when air slash crashed into it the stone didn't put up much resistance. The three trainers were thrown forwards and showered in dust and stone.

The rust haired girl got to her feet and looked around before her eyes landed on Falkner and his pidgeot.

She screamed and Falkner laughed. Now the chase truly was on.

A dragonair and steelix appeared next to them. Falkner gritted his teeth. No guard meant that there was nothing Pidgeot could do to avoid the hits so he stood there. Whitney was so pathetic that she wouldn't even fight to save two children.

Not that it would have done much at all.

Rock throw and dragon rage shot at the flying-type and its trainer. Copper and Steel were happy that their hits landed but their eyes shrank in fear as the pidgeot showed no sign of damage whatsoever.

Steel glanced back and saw Whitney was frozen in fear.

"Whitney?" he asked but by then another air slash had sent them sprawling across the crumpling bridge.

Steel inhaled sharply as the rough stone tore at his clothes, grazing him painfully. He felt like he was bleeding. It was annoying how the small cuts always made you bleed more.

"Guys!" Copper tried getting to her feet again but they were shaky to she ended up on the floor again. They were all hurled backwards another time and Copper's head slammed into a chunk of rock scattered on the bridge.

_Damn_,_ damn.._._Copper_...they were only thoughts that could come to Steel's mind. He reached for Ferro's pokéball and returned him so he wouldn't be attacked further but Copper couldn't even manage that.

"Go to hell, Whitney!" Falkner shouted above the commotion and Whitney's breath stopped. What was happening to her? She cursed herself for being so weak but it wouldn't help. It wasn't going to help. How many more people will have to die because she was so pathetic?!

There was a blinding flash and she felt as if she was falling. The ground beneath them had shattered and they were plummeting into the water.

The water felt as solid as concrete from that distance so Whitney and Steel joined Copper into darkness.

There was no air. Just water that was crushing them from the pressure. There were massive sounds drumming down into the water where Falkner was attacking, ensuring his victory.

Whitney tried keeping awake but there wasn't anything she could do. She had no strength left. But there was a light. The light took the form of a serpent and began coiling around her illuminating the water around her.

"What?" she exclaimed then she realised that she'd spoken. Whitney looked around and saw Copper's dragonair curling around them, glowing with the blue light of safeguard. They were still very much underwater but Whitney was breathing just fine.

She froze up when something grabbed her arm but she soon recognised it as a paw. Whitney lurched suddenly as she was pulled backwards by something.

Whitney couldn't do anything but brace herself as Dragonair and the unknown Pokémon dragged the three of them towards the cliff.

Whitney thought that surely they'd all crash into the cliff face but instead the rock collapsed around them.

The dragonair sighed and collapsed, exhausted.

"_Bi_-_bi_." Whitney turned around and saw her bibarel looking up at her with concerned eyes. That was the last straw.

Whitney hugged her knees and began to weep. It was all true. She was an idiot. She was a coward. Everything Sabrina had said was the truth after all. She'd just been kidding herself...

The cave should have been dark but Belinda was still using safeguard to light the place up. Steel rubbed his head and groaned in pain. His back hurt so much and he was absolutely sodden. For a moment he thought he was in Cianwood again but the blurry sight he received when he forced open his eyes immediately disproved that.

There was a sound but Steel couldn't find the source. Instead he turned his head and found Copper lying limp on the stone floor.

The sudden burst of fear allowed him to move.

He sat up and began shaking her shoulders, "Copper! Copper! Wake up!"

She whimpered something in reply but her voice wasn't strong enough to finish a sentence. Steel sighed in relief that she was alive but had no idea what to do after that. He leant against the wall but winced. His back was too sore to do that so instead he sat cross-legged on the floor and hunched over.

Steel realised that the bandages on his arm had gone again and there was mushed up paper in their place.

He didn't dare touch his arm so he just stayed still to not irritate it any further. In that moment of calm Steel heard the noise for what it was.

He turned around and saw Whitney leaning against one of the walls, crying.

"Whitney?"

"He tried to kill me..." Whitney said quietly, unable to put more strength into her words than that. Steel himself was trying to get over how close he'd been to death for the second time but he tried putting himself in her situation. What if Copper genuinely attempted to kill him? Steel shuddered in horror at the idea.

"Whitney..."

"Sabrina was right. I _am_ an idiot."

Steel shook his head, "You're not. I wouldn't call trust idiotic."

Whitney looked away, "But I shouldn't have, especially after all he's done. You can't say that I wasn't a fool."

Steel sighed and said nothing.

"I should have stayed in Celadon. I should have stayed asleep."

"What?! But if Falkner found out he would have torn Celadon to pieces!" Steel quickly regretted saying it.

He breathed deeply before continuing, "You may be one of the only people who can stop this but you can't just throw your life away. Life is hard. Everyone in Kahto has been forced to accept that fact and nothing's going to change that no matter where you go. I lived in a shelter all my life until a month ago and if there's one thing I learned from coming out was that people make mistakes. Things can go badly in ways you never expected but things can also go better than you'd ever expected.

"Copper and I almost burnt down Azalea Town but we fought with Mahogany Town against the Zephyrs. You should take the risk if you believe it's right...but you shouldn't be reckless when people care about you and need you to return.

"I don't want the Zephyrs to rule Kahto anymore. They're hurting so many people but I don't want to leave my dad all alone. That's why I want to be strong and survive the battles."

Whitney was silent.

She sighed.

"Jan's all I have left and I know I'm all she has in return. I just...I don't even know. I was fed up of being a coward. I used to be terrible. Every single time something bad happened to me I would burst into tears and refuse to do anything about it. Then I met Falkner and Janine. We had a lot in common and they were better than anything I could have ever hoped for. Being around them made me feel like I was stronger. They reminded me that I had support but when Falkner's dad died everything changed. I reverted back into that scared little girl."

Steel's breath sounded halfway between a laugh and a sigh, "If only Copper was awake. She'd be able to help. She's the strongest person I know."

Whitney frowned, "Is she okay?"

Steel looked at Copper with concern, "I know she's alive but I don't know the first thing about injuries except how much they hurt. I usually have Charlie use heal bell but there's not enough room in here for her."

With Belinda snaking her body around the edge of the cave, Copper lying down, Bib-bib sitting next to Whitney and Steel sitting in the centre of the room there was no way they could fit her in.

Whitney looked upwards, "We should leave her soon. We're only breathing now because of Dragonair using safeguard. We can heal Copper once we're outside. There should be a small forest on Route 18. We'll be as safe as we can be there."

Steel patted Belinda's head, "Don't worry, Belinda. You can rest soon."

Whitney met Belinda's eyes and repeated her name before smiling, "That's a pretty name." she turned to Bib-bib.

"Bib-bib, can you dig up out of here?"

The bibarel nodded determinedly and presented its flat tail to the two trainers. Whitney took hold of it as did Steel. Steel held Copper's arm with his other hand and braced.

Bib-bib nodded and shot through the dirt. The power of the move dig meant that they weren't lost along the way or damaged but Steel felt awful as they surfaced.

Whitney gave him a sorry look, "I know it's bad if you aren't used to dig but it's pretty useful." she said quietly.

She helped Copper lie down safely then Steel returned Belinda for her. He held out Charlie's pokéball and asked her to use heal bell on Copper but instead she faced both of the teenagers so they were both showered in the healing light.

Copper began waking up at that moment. She sat up then opened her eyes onto Steel and gasped.

"Steel! What the...!" Whitney shushed her so she stopped but Steel tried to see what she was looking at. He turned around and couldn't see anything but when he did so Whitney gasped.

"What is it?" he asked, careful to keep his voice hushed.

Copper grimaced, "Your back. It looks all bloody and cut up. And you don't have your bandages again."

Steel sighed. The cuts would be sealed now thanks to Charlie but heal bell would do little to fix his clothes or get rid of the blood.

He didn't want to risk cleaning his back and bleeding again but he couldn't imagine how awful it must look. Thank goodness he'd taken off his jacket.

A thought occurred to him and he quickly untied his jacket from around his waist. He hurriedly checked the inner pocket and gasped.

Pokéballs were completely waterproof so he wasn't worried about that but the photo...It might as well have been tie-dyed now.

But he didn't have time to feel sad about it because there was a sudden gust accompanied by a screech of a flying-type.

They were hard to make out through the treetops but swarms of flying-types were seen shooting past. Whitney followed their past and her heart almost stopped.

"Fuchsia City..." Whitney ran off. Copper and Steel quickly exchanged looks before nodding and running off to join her, Steel quickly pulling on his jacket to protect his back and arm.

* * *

***Please read as "Muh-gain"**

* * *

**OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH! WE ARE INTO THE FINAL STAGE NOW!**

**I just want to say how grateful I am to you guys for supporting this and convincing me to continue :D**

**Next time on Pokémon Rust : The finale**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter so please review if you did or didn't with any comments, suggestions or questions for the series so it can improve! :D**


	10. Finale : Part 1

Whitney, Copper and Steel ran through the thick trees all the way to the edge of Fuchsia City but the sight they saw there was the worst nightmare of anyone in Kahto.

Copper had never seen so many Zephyrs in one place and she'd lived in their capital for a portion of her life. Something big was happening and it was not going to be good.

Zephyr activity had been strange lately but she had no idea what it could be. Copper leant against a tree so she was hidden entirely from their view and she racked her mind for possibilities.

All Whitney and Steel could do was stare in horror.

_Why would so many Zephyrs come to Fuchsia City_? Copper wondered, _Falkner may hate Janine but this is overkill_.

Copper was looking around aimlessly as she spoke but then her eyes locked on something in the distance, the only horizon she'd ever know, the Everstorm.

She had to stop herself from yelling as many swears and curses as she knew. This was bad. This would be a catastrophe.

She sneaked further back into the forest and indicated for Whitney and Steel to follow her so they wouldn't be caught talking.

"It's the Everstorm!" she whispered, "They're trying to get rid of it!"

"What?! But I thought it was impossible to get rid off without Ho-oh or Lugia." Steel said in a hushed voice.

"And Clair made it very clear that they won't come to our aid after Jan attacked them." added Whitney.

"Maybe after fourteen years the legendaries got over it. They're guardians and anyone would tell you that Kahto's in a bad state at the moment."

"We can't let that happen. The other regions would stop him eventually but if that many people and two legendaries launched a surprise attack on Hoenn then the devastation would be cataclysmic." Whitney was sounding panicked, "But what can we do? Three versus pretty much half of Kahto wouldn't work in any universe."

Copper was stumped, "Maybe if we get more people...Erika maybe?"

Whitney shook her head, "She wouldn't lead her people into a battle against so many people especially after they just woke up."

Steel gave them a quick confused look but there wasn't time to elaborate so he just continued, "What about Indigo City? Janine said she'd help if there was any trouble."

Whitney frowned, her expression becoming more and more hopeless with each second, "Clair doesn't want any people from the city fighting and I'm not sure how quickly they could get here."

"What about the people who live in Fuchsia City already? Why aren't they doing something about this?" Steel asked.

Whitney shrugged, "Either no-one lives there anymore or..." Whitney smiled as an idea occurred to her, "Or they're waiting. There's a clan of poison-specialist ninjas in Fuchsia City. They certainly wouldn't accept this." her smile faded again, "But that wouldn't be enough people, would it?"

"Whitney," the light bulb above Copper's head switched on, "Is there a way to get us into the gym or something? From there we might be able to meet the people in Fuchsia City."

Whitney's eyes lit up and Bib-bib bounced up and down eagerly. They all crouched down and grabbed Bib-bib's tail. The beaver Pokémon dove into the dirt, tugging the three trainers along with it.

It was too late when Steel realised that it probably wasn't the best idea but thankfully he was soon proven wrong when Bib-bib broke through to the surface and they appeared in the Fuchsia City gym.

Steel stood up but then gasped when he realised they'd just broken through the floor.

"Okay. Nobody move until I can sort this out." Whitney instructed. She outstretched her hand but stopped suddenly. She nodded, "The walls are up so that means we'll have to find a way through."

Steel didn't know what she was talking about until he stepped forwards and found there was something in his way.

"Invisible walls? Come on!" Copper walked around with her arms out and found that to be quite true. She glanced to the doors and gritted her teeth, "We can't waste time on this."

"Sadly we have to. The gym puzzles are there to show you're a trainer of some worth and no matter how many times you come to one you have to repeat the puzzle each time." Whitney explained and she walked through the seemingly empty gym.

"Can't you just remember the pattern?" Steel asked and Whitney chuckled.

"Of course. Otherwise it would take us ages just to get into our own gyms." Whitney showed Copper and Steel the way through to the exit.

Whitney kept Bib-bib by her side for protection but no-one had yet showed up.

"Cindy? Barry?" she called out in a hushed voice.

"Whitney?"

Steel almost yelped as someone _actually_ answered but thankfully he stopped himself. The person in question had apparently appeared out of nowhere but Steel expected he'd just been hiding like Janine did.

He wore black and a ninja mask but had tight navy ribbons tied around one of his legs. He had short light brown hair and his grey eyes kept darting around the gym.

"Whitney, what are you doing here? Don't you know that the Zephyrs had a death wish for you?"

Whitney nodded, "I know, but I can't let the Zephyrs get away. Something bad's about to happen."

Phil looked around and several more people appeared around them, "But what can we do? There are only ten trainers left in Fuchsia City and more than fifty of them. Why are they here anyway?"

"We think they're trying to get rid of the Everstorm." Copper quickly continued before any of them could get too hopeful, "We can't let the Zephyrs get away. Can you imagine what would happen if that many killers were unleashed into the other regions?"

The hopeful faces faded into grim realisation, "If we attack them, there's a good chance they'll just kill all of us. Releasing a poison cloud into the crowd could only affect some of them before they catch on."

Steel sighed, "If we can get more people on our side it might be plausible."

One of the ninjas scoffed, "Plausible meaning one off impossible."

Steel didn't have any way to retort that. It was the truth after all. But Steel _had_ to do something about it.

"How much time do we have until they get rid of the Everstorm?" Phil asked but the three trainers shrugged sadly.

Phil sighed then turned to the rest of the Fuchsia City trainers and threw out his arbok, "In that case, we need to start asap. If we can poison them before anything happens then surely we'll be able to fight the rest."

It didn't sound foolproof but it was the only plan they had so everyone murmured in agreement. If they managed to cut down the amount of Zephyrs that could escape then it was more likely that the other regions could stop Falkner before there's too much destruction.

Steel was terrified but he had no choice. He wanted with all his heart to go back to Mount Mortar so he could see his father again but Steel knew his luck was running out as steadily as the sands in an hourglass.

Phil was discussing tactics in a low and hushed voice when a loud rumble shook the gym and was quickly followed by a large crash.

Everyone's heads turned to the door and the sounds of commotion outside it. Fear shot through Steel and one of the trainers darted to one of the thinly veiled windows. He gasped and when he spoke his voice was the incarnation of panic.

"Guys! We've gotta act, now!"

The rest ran to the windows. Steel, Copper and Whitney couldn't see properly through the veils but the others were used to seeing through them so the shock came through clear.

"Everyone. Prepare to fight!" Phil called and someone kicked at the back wall, opening a hidden door and revealing the most surprising scene Steel had ever seen.

The Zephyrs were locked in battle. Rocks were in a heated fight against wind and the chaos was immeasurable. They'd come. Trainers from Pewter City had come to help and though they were being outnumbered it was enough for a distraction. Now, victory was possible.

Copper and Steel threw out all their Pokémon and ran to join the fight, blowing away any Zephyrs that they could see. Whitney was quick to follow their example. She'd become a massive target on that field, her 'crime' renowned among Zephyrs, but no matter what had happened she was still a gym leader.

Mil-mil was knocking down any Pokémon in her way while Ring-ring was staying by her side as he fought.

"Thunder punch!" she called and Ring-ring's massive paw slammed into a nearby flying-type and sent it crashing into another Zephyr's Pokémon but they kept coming. Whitney clenched her jaw in frustration and sent out her ambipom to compensate for the sheer amount of Pokémon fighting against them.

Whitney yelped as another bird-like Pokémon dive-bombed her. Thankfully the pidgeotto was caught by Pom-pom but Whitney's breath was becoming ragged from the danger she was in and the constant fear.

She couldn't see Copper or Steel anymore, they were lost in the battle and Steel's steelix wasn't the only one fighting, but she hoped with all her heart that they were okay. She was worried that Steel with all his injuries would become a target for the cruel Zephyrs looking for an easy fight. Whitney knew that Steel was a good trainer from what she'd heard in the City but if they started attacking him…

Steel cried out fell to one knee while Brooke stood protectively behind him and attacked the noctowl who'd used dark pulse on Steel. Thanks to his jacket covering his back and arm it wasn't immediately obvious he was hurt but as the battle demanded more and more of his energy it became harder and harder to bear.

Antheia was spinning around furiously and whipping up petal dance to attack the Zephyrs surrounding them but she knew she was getting into a fight which would be very difficult to win considering her move pool being ineffective against their enemies.

Lancer, Knucker and Ferro were busy taking care of the Zephyrs in other areas of their own volition while Steel was commanding Brooke, Charlie and Antheia nearby. He'd lost sight of Copper but trusted she was doing well on her own. The trainers from Pewter City were very lucky to have the advantage with their rock-types and they were battling well but their involvement meant the original plan of poisoning the Zephyrs had been tossed out the window.

The main problem Steel was facing were the non-flying Zephyr Pokémon that always caught him by surprise and the Zephyrs themselves since most of them could actually fight.

Steel didn't like having to attack other humans since they were much more affected and fragile than Pokémon but he had little options in that regard.

One man with a fearow ran up to Steel who was still on one knee and launched a punch at the teenager. Steel was hurled onto his side onto his arm and he had to force himself not to scream in pain. Charlie helped him to his feet while Brooke took care of the attacker but Steel could notice that his Pokémon were rapidly tiring.

They'd been fighting for a long time now but there were so many Zephyrs to fight. Without the help of Pewter City there would have been no chance but it still looked so impossible.

"_Gloooom_!" Steel's head turned around to see Antheia be blasted by gust and thrown onto the dark red pavement which resulted in her fainting.

Steel recalled her but heard Brooke roar in warning. Steel leapt out of the way of charging golbat and yelled a command.

"Hydro pump!" Steel called and Brooke used her newly-learnt move to blast the poison-type away but not before she'd been hit with swift.

"Brooke!" he cried but the Pokémon waved off his concern, only making the boy worry even more. Steel knew something was wrong but he didn't have the time to think about it. With another hit Charlie was only had a fraction of energy left until she'd be knocked out completely and it was then when things started getting overwhelming.

Somehow Copper found her way to Steel after wading through the fighters with Bruce and Dwaine. She was worried about him fighting alone while being so hurt but on her way there she found that she shouldn't really be worrying.

Ferro was smashing Pokémon out of the sky while Knucker had no qualms about hurling boulders at anyone in Zephyr uniform. Lancer was doing well in the air battles and the Pokémon who were taking orders from Steel were doing even better. Too bad that it wasn't enough.

"Copper!" Steel was relieved to see her but they couldn't talk much considering they had a lot on their minds.

"Jolie, feint attack!" Copper called and Jolie charged at a nearby Zephyr but ended up attacking someone in the opposite direction, catching them off guard and throwing them to the ground.

Sadly Lore had already been knocked out but the rest of her Pokémon were still fighting. Copper was hoping that this would be able to stop enough Zephyrs and ruin their plans. It was following this mind-set that allowed her to realise what what was missing from the fight.

Copper swore, "Falkner!" she exclaimed and Steel gave her a quizzical look, "He's not here!"

Steel's eyes widened. Whatever he was up to would not end up well at all. It was worrying but there was a loud sound which led their minds to be entirely focused on the new threat coming in.

Steel had no idea what had happened, maybe these had only been Zephyrs from Kanto or they'd called for reinforcements, but before he knew it there was a flock of birds flying towards Fuchsia City. They were having trouble with the amount of fighting in Fuchsia City already. They'd have no chance if more came.

"Electro ball! Confuse ray! Ice shard!"

"Hydro pump! Rock throw! Rock slide!"

Steel and Copper were trying their best not to let the extra Zephyrs land but it didn't do enough. All their efforts seemed to do was direct all the fire towards them.

"Safeguard!" Belinda hurriedly coiled around the two teenagers and several of their Pokémon to protect them from the harsh winds raining down on them.

"How are we going to fight off this many trainers?!" Steel wondered panickedly.

Copper was breathing very heavily from having to run around and be in constant danger all the time, "I don't know, but we're running out of Pokémon and trainers on our side and I've got no idea where Whitney or Falkner are."

Steel and Copper yelled out some more attacks and their Pokémon advanced but things were getting tough for both of them.

"Bruce! Jolie!" Copper cried when the two of them were thrown into each other and simultaneously rendered unconscious.

She ran over and recalled the two of them but since she was far away Copper was helpless to do anything as a barrage of poison stings shot towards them.

Steel's eyes widened in horror but he managed to croak, "Ice fang…" in response before falling to the floor.

Copper sprinted to her friend. Dozens of poisonous needles were imbedded in Steel's back and blood was seeping through the holes in the back of his jacket.

"Steel!" she looked around for Charlie but all she saw was the fainted Pokémon lying on the grass. All their remaining Pokémon were continuing to fight and protect their trainers but Copper was stuck on what to do. She couldn't heal this. If Steel's wounds had reopened _and_ he'd been poisoned then there wouldn't be a lot of time.

The Zephyrs kept advancing and Copper realised how screwed they were.

"Payback." the word sounded across the battlefield as did the appropriate attack. Dark energy erupted in icicle-like shards and rained down specifically on the Zephyrs, missing any allies.

Someone landed behind Copper and Steel but attacked before Copper could do anything about it. Something dark and familiar shot at some of the Zephyrs in front of the two. Copper wasn't afraid of dark-types anymore but she couldn't erase the amount of times Janus and Rose had attacked her with a Honchkrow from her memory.

But this Honchkrow was on their side. Copper wheeled around and gasped.

The newcomer's silver hair was blowing in the breeze and she had her fists balled up in anger.

"K-Karen!?"

Karen looked at Copper in a reassuring manner but her silvery-blue eyes still held unbelievable anger.

"Of course. The League has been afraid for too long. We're here to stop them."

* * *

**Yeah this was longer than I'd expected so I'm going to be splitting the finale up into two parts.**

**Haha! Now the League has joined the fray and it's all-or-nothing for Kahto.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter and if you did or didn't I'd appreciate if you review with any comments, suggestions or questions for the series! :D**


	11. Finale : Part 2

Brock was one of the first to arrive behind Karen but he'd been the one to get the message so that made up for the fact that rock-types were stereotypically slow.

He looked around and found Clara next to her aerodactyl. Brock's aerodactyl blasted away all attacking Zephyrs around her with rock slide before landing next to her.

"Brock!" Clara exclaimed joyfully, "I'm so happy you got my message. I was right! The Zephyrs _are_ after Ho-oh and Lugia. They want to get rid of the Everstorm!"

'Getting rid of the Everstorm'. Brock marvelled at how the same words that made up his dream for almost fifteen years could be used to convey such a horrific outcome.

"And those kids are here as well, the ones you asked me about a few days ago, as is Whitney."

Brock's eyes widened in surprise and he looked around. The battle was too dense for him to see them so he sighed and narrowed his eyes. He'd been living in the Indigo City for years but now he had a chance to do something for Kahto.

Clair riding into battle had always been a scary sight but now, with her dragonite roaring a tremendous roar and over a decade of pent-up rage shining clearly through her blue eyes, she was terrifying.

Most of the Zephyrs couldn't believe it. After so many years the League had returned, just in time to stop Falkner from destroying the Everstorm.

The battle started anew, the Zephyrs fighting with renewed anger and the others fighting with renewed hope.

Janine's heart was a heavy one as Venemoth flew over Fuchsia City. She hadn't seen the city in years and now she was seeing it in the process of being destroyed by the fierce fighting but she was focused on scanning the battlefield (describing Fuchsia City as a 'battlefield' felt really weird to her) for Copper or Steel, hoping that they were okay since it was her fault they were there in the first place, but instead found something much more shocking.

Janine dropped to the ground, her venemoth diving down after her, just in time for Whitney to wheel around in preparation for a fight then meet her friend's eyes.

"Jan!" Whitney tackled Janine in an ursarsing hug and Janine hugged her friend back, so relieved to find her alive and well.

However the presence of the two most wanted people in Kahto for Zephyrs did not go unnoticed.

"Hammer arm!"

"Sludge bomb!"

Their two Pokémon blasted back the opponents and prepared to go into full battle mode but then a sudden burst of wind erupted from near the sea. Janine hadn't realised how quickly clouds had been forming but now the sky was almost completely overcast.

Sharp fear shot through the two of them and with a single glanced they understood. It was the two of them that ended it the first time and they'd end it this time too.

Whitney recalled all her Pokémon except for Ring-ring and the two of them used their Pokémon to charge through all the Zephyrs so they could enter the small forest at the edge of Fuchsia City.

Janine was usually much faster than Whitney but she did not want to go into this fight alone so they were running through the trees at the same pace. Whitney's heart was getting faster and faster with each step she took. She was so scared but felt infinitely better with Janine by her side.

Whitney and Janine had been trapped in a living nightmare for years and the scene they ran up to was the fifteen years of horror condensed into a single moment.

Falkner was the centre of the storm but this time he wasn't laughing. There wasn't any joy this time, it was pure anger, pure insanity.

The trees thinned out towards the closer you got to the cliff so they were witnesses to the scene long before they could stop it.

Janine couldn't believe it. Clair had assured her that Ho-oh and Lugia wouldn't appear for him again. What had happened? Janine knew that the guardians would appear in times of need but she always thought that they'd recognise him as the cause.

Despite the fear, Janine couldn't believe how magnificent and powerful the Kahto legendaries were. Ho-oh's scarlet wings stretched wide and its feathers rippling in the winds made it look like a phoenix of eternal flame. Its golden crown and tail were pieces of the sun in Ho-oh's radiant light.

Lugia was just as magnificent but on the opposite side of the spectrum to the rainbow Pokémon. The diving Pokémon could be described as plain next to its colourful counterpart if you see a picture but being in its presence was completely different. Everything seemed to gravitate towards it like a tornado and each flap of its huge wings sent blasts of air crashing into the trees around it, bending oak like paper.

The last time Whitney had been near them she'd done nothing but freeze. After that it had been one disaster after another which added to the snowball of nightmares racing down the mountain. Whitney clenched her fists in determination. She would change that this time around.

As they got closer the winds got stronger, forming almost a solid wall. Janine and Whitney were pushing against the gusts but found after a point it was too strong to pass through.

For the most part all they could hear was the wind but there were traces of a voice. The two women saw Ho-oh and Lugia exerting enormous amounts of power. They didn't have much time left now.

"Crobat!" Janine was forced to shout for her Pokémon to hear her, "Use tailwind!"

All four of Crobat's wings were beating furiously to stay level but somehow it managed to perform the move. A massive gale materialised from the Pokémon and crashed into the edge of the legendaries' storm.

Crobat was nowhere near strong enough to dissipate the gales entirely but the wall had crumbled, allowing them to push through and reach the clearing.

Whitney hurled down a pokéball and a pink large-eared Pokémon appeared by her side. Whitney breathed deeply. Falkner hadn't noticed them yet, he was too engrossed in directing the two legendaries.

"Tuff-tuff, perish song!" Whitney cried and an ear-shattering yet melodious cry erupted from the wigglytuff's mouth. All the Pokémon, even Tuff-tuff, Ho-oh and Lugia, winced in pain at the sound.

Falkner wheeled around and the utter fury in his eyes sent fear coursing through even Janine.

"Why won't you die!?" he shouted but they stood their ground.

"Toxic! Bug buzz!" Janine ordered and her two flying-types surged forwards.

"Thunder punch!" Whitney yelled and Ring-ring charged.

"Aero blast! Sacred fire!" Falkner bellowed back and the large birds reared up.

Janine couldn't even dodge the attacks in such fierce winds. She and Whitney were trapped by the currents and forced to take the powerful attacks as they came.

A boulder of air as sharp as a throwing star wheeled towards Whitney while a ball of bright white-blue hurtled towards Janine.

Whitney and Janine were slammed into trees by the impact of both attacks but Janine was quick to get back to her feet and Whitney wasn't much slower. They refused to let..._him_ win.

Tuff-tuff was looking worn out but she persisted with her singing. In a few minutes every Pokémon in the clearing would be unconscious, even ones as powerful as the guardians of the sea and skies couldn't ignore perish song.

"Ancient power!" Falkner commanded and he pointed at Tuff-tuff. The two Pokémon winced in pain at the continued song but did not hesitate to attack her.

Janine gritted her teeth. _I can't hesitate_, she thought to herself before darting towards Falkner.

Her hands were like knives, slashing and stabbing at him, but Falkner knew her too well. If only she could have said the same.

Janine thrust her hand at his stomach but before she could do so a large boot struck her side and sent her flying sideways. Janine twisted in mid-air and landed on her feet.

Whitney screamed in the background as more boulders shot towards her and the Pokémon but Venemoth managed to intercept the attack, sadly knocking it out.

Janine sprinted back at Falkner but he was just as skilled in combat as her after fifteen years of ruling Kahto via terror.

None of the Pokémon on Whitney's side were strong enough to take more than one hit from either of the legendaries but there were enough to protect Tuff-tuff. It was heart-wrenching every time Whitney had to throw out a Pokémon just for them to be shot back by Ho-oh or Lugia. Out of the corner of her worried eyes she saw Janine locked in a hand-to-hand battle with Falkner but she couldn't worry about her. Janine would prevail. She was confident in that fact.

Tuff-tuff let out one final scream and everyone's attention turned to her. Her eyes were clenched shut in the pain of her own attack but it was finally over.

Falkner refused to let the guardians be defeated by such pathetic and weak Pokémon yet again but before his eyes it was happening. No. He would not fail them again.

"Aero blast! Sacred fire!" Lugia and Ho-oh managed their attacks and the area around Tuff-tuff was obliterated, the grass seared and the dirt torn up into the air, but the damage was already done.

Their cries were that of the world's largest birds and they echoed tremendously throughout the area. Some say they were even heard in Cerulean City but all that mattered to them was the fact that they soon disappeared. There was a blinding flash and when everyone's eyes readjusted they had disappeared.

There was a moment of silence. It was a moment full of worry, fear and uncertainty but it all came crashing together into pure loathing.

Falkner charged at Janine and his fist smashed into her chest, throwing her back and causing Whitney to scream.

Whitney dived at him like a rugby player but her attempts at fighting were nowhere near as advanced as Janine's so she was easily tossed to the charred earth.

Janine should have been able to take him down but every single smile, every single laugh, every single memory of their friendship was a chain that tugged on her arms and legs, restricting every movement she made.

Falkner's mind was swarmed with memories but every single moment of friendship only added petrol* to his already uncontrollable inferno of hatred. Janine would hit him but every blow was another reason for him to keep fighting the devils who'd betrayed him.

"Falkner! Walker wouldn't want you to do this!" Falkner's rage grew tenfold at Janine's utterance of his father's name. He'd tried convincing himself that it was just the desperate pleas of a feeble person but somehow their voices could pierce each wall of grief and anger he'd set up around his mind. What was it about them!?

Janine kicked him to the ground and quickly knelt on his arms, effectively trapping him. Falkner struggled but couldn't move.

His face contorted in fury, "I'm _not_ going to be a caged chatot again!" he shouted and Janine couldn't help but know it was the truth. If they caught him there wouldn't be prison. His crimes were too great. Falkner was always quoting his dad on one thing. Janine still remembered it.

'_Bird Pokémon don't just fly with their wings, they soar through the sky because that's what they want to do with all their heart_.'

He wouldn't survive having his wings clipped anyway.

Falkner made a throwing motion with one of his arms and Janine frowned, too distracted to recognise it. Just a moment later something surprisingly heavy charged into her back and allowed Falkner to kick Janine off him and into the ground.

Falkner got to his feet and clenched his fists furiously.

"This isn't going to make anyone happier!" Janine persisted, "This is madness!" He refused to listen. Every word was one more stretch on his limits but now he'd snapped.

"SHUT UP!" he bellowed. In her confusion Janine had tried to dodge a punch by crouching but in the next moment Falkner had smashed his boot into her head.

Janine was hurled into a nearby tree where she slumped. She was lifeless. She was...

Tears had begun pooling up in Whitney's eyes as she stared at Janine in shock.

No...Sh-she c-couldn't be...

"YOU MONSTER!" Whitney screamed. She threw a wild punch at the Zephyr's head but he avoided it effortlessly. She was hopelessly outmatched but it didn't stop her. She couldn't stop crying but she couldn't stop fighting.

Falkner's punches felt like cold iron slamming into her but she couldn't stop.

"You're a monster! You destroyed Kahto!" the breath was forced from her lungs as Falkner punched her in the gut but his crimes were coming out in long and rambling strings.

"You killed Koga!" Whitney dived at him.

"You ruined Johto!" she was kicked away.

"You killed Red and Will!"

Falkner was trying to ignore it all, he didn't care, so why did their voices stab him when not even _he_ could?!

"YOU KILLED JANINE!"

They finally broke apart. Whitney had been kicked into a tree and she was now lying there breathlessly, unable to move properly.

Falkner was standing still, his back turned from her. Whitney sensed the danger but couldn't do anything about it. At least Jan would be there…

Their Pokémon were gone, either fainted or not in use, but Falkner still had something. Whitney watched in terror as he got out his gun. Whitney had been facing death all throughout that day but only now did it seem so horrifyingly real.

"I can't be forgiven…"

The voice shocked her. It was hollow and quiet, only containing remnants of the voice she'd associated with her friend. Maybe that was why she stayed quiet even once her breath had returned. She couldn't deny it. That was why she shook her head.

"So..."

* * *

Karen, Copper and their Pokémon were giving Steel and Misty a large space as Misty tried to help the unconscious boy. Seaking was flopping on the ground next to them while Starmie was helping with the battle.

"Aqua ring." Misty ordered and jets of glowing water shot out of Seaking's horn. They swirled around Steel and their light intensified until he gasped and woke up.

"Steel!" Misty cried in relief. He looked around in a confused manner.

"Ow." he mumbled.

Misty had taken his jacket off to see what was wrong but now she'd applied some bandages to his back.

He smiled dizzily to mask how awful he was feeling, "When did you get so good at this?"

Misty smiled back comfortingly, "I'm in charge of welfare in the Indigo City. I learnt."

She helped Steel sit up and he thanked her.

He was trying to get up when a shot exploded and was followed by a scream. The scream was hard to make out because of the commotion but there'd been a simultaneous pause at the sound of a gun which allowed them to make it out.

Steel's breath was cut short, "That was Whitney!"

Copper's irises were small in realisation. She'd recognised it too.

Steel held out his arm shakily and returned Lancer and Knucker who were nearby. Misty and Karen caught on too late.

Steel had regained enough energy to get to his feet and his fear was enough to drive him forwards. Copper ran next to him in case they fell but that soon didn't matter. They were the first to run onto the horrific scene but they certainly weren't the last.

The grass and earth in the clearing was torn up and scorched and many of the surrounding trees had branches or even their trunks bent or snapped off.

Whitney had her back pressed against one of the nearby trees like she was trying to get as far away from the clearing as possible. Her eyes were clenched shut and tears were streaming down her face. She was clutching the blades of grass nearby as if they were a part of a duvet she could crawl under.

Janine was lying limp on the edge of the clearing, completely still. Her purple hair was messy and falling out of the ribbon so her spiky ponytail was slanted to one side of her head.

Most horrifying of all was the figure in the middle. He was lying in an awkward position since he'd collapsed standing but blood was pooling onto the ground next to his head, staining the earth a dark scarlet.

Copper and Steel were frozen in horror, silent screams stuck on their petrified faces as tears ran down their cheeks like rain down statues. They couldn't believe it...Not Janine...

Many more trainers came on, their reactions either that of Steel and Copper's or some people ran to Janine. You could have come to a conclusion considering that Falkner was dead and Whitney was alive but the scene denied all such reason. The gun was lying next to Falkner, his unmoving fingers still caught in the bloodstained trigger.

Misty ran to Janine's side and crouched low. Janine wasn't moving, but now Misty was there by her side she saw it. There was no blood.

There were several bruises and cuts running down her body. Misty placed two fingers beneath Janine's jaw line, searching for a pulse...

She immediately retracted her hand, her mind finally processing the shock.

She threw out her Pokémon, rapidly ordering Seaking to use aqua rings. The people's shock of her death dissipated.

"She's alive?!" Clair exclaimed and Misty hurriedly nodded.

"But we need to stabilise her as soon as possible if she's going to stay that way."

Clair threw out her dragonite immediately, "Take my dragonite, he's fast. Are there any nearby cities that _weren't_ destroyed by Zephyrs?"

"Celadon City." Steel suggested quietly. The shock of Janine's death was quickly passing now she was alive but the scene was still so shocking.

Clair nodded, "Erika should help until we can transfer her to better conditions."

The red jewel at the centre of Starmie's body began glowing with pink light and levitating Janine carefully onto Dragonite's back.

They shot off and everyone's eyes followed them as they left, except for Clair. The champion's eyes were locked on something in the distance.

"Everyone." her voice was strong and commanding, "Alert the people that Falkner is dead and the Zephyrs are disbanded but no matter what, don't let anyone associated with them leave!"

The surrounding trainers nodded and darted off, either running back into the forest back to Fuchsia City or taking off on flying Pokémon.

Bruno rested a hand on Whitney's shoulder and helped her to her feet. Whitney was still sobbing and refusing to open her eyes so she let Bruno lead her away from the place.

Karen, Copper and Steel were about to leave as well but Clair called them all back.

Clair took out a small notebook and pen, everyone in the City carried a set with them since that was the primary form of long distance communication there, and hurriedly wrote something before tearing the paper out and handing it over to Copper who was still entranced by the distance.

The horizon was nothing like she'd ever known. The white clouds in the air took on definite shapes and there was a clear blue-on-blue divide where the sea met the sky. Falkner had succeeded. The Everstorm was gone.

"Kahto isn't trapped anymore and we need help." the champion explained, "I know I've been asking a lot of you two lately but I need you to do one last thing for me. I need you to use your pokégears to travel to Ever Grande City and give this to whoever's in charge now. I want you to tell them what happened and ask them for aid."

Steel and Copper nodded even though Copper was looking confused, "Why us? We've never been out of Kahto before and I can't even fly."

Clair handed Copper the pokéball of her charizard, "I need someone I trust to visit them. I'd prefer for them not to go alone or look like they're coming for revenge."

The image of Clair riding down on a Dragonite came to Steel's mind and he immediately agreed with her.

Clair nodded thankfully then exchanged meaningful looks with Karen and the latter threw out her houndoom.

Karen looked back to Steel and Copper with a pitying look, "You should leave."

They both nodded and rapidly walked into the woods, not daring to stop or look back except once when a loud growl of fire suddenly erupted.

Copper shuddered but when she met Steel's eyes he was smiling.

"So Hoenn, eh? It sounds fun to go out of Kahto for a while."

Copper caught his message and she found an incredulous smile forming on her lips. The nightmare was over. They were all free.

* * *

***Gas/Gasoline**

* * *

**Steel and Copper's journey has finally ended! The Zephyrs are defeated but Pokemon Rust isn't over yet! ;D**

**There are going to be a few chapters acting as the epilogue which will be showing what's happening afterwards, tying up the loose ends and all.**

**But more so, I just cannot thank all of you enough! You guys are the best and _dw i'n caru pob un o'chi_! ;)**

** A massive thanks to Keyblade132, The Lunar Umbreon, YOLOSWAG420JESUS, ddreamer9159, yavin4, Derenost, TarrelYoukai and aleking74 for favouriting and/or following me!**

**I hope you enjoyed this series and will stick around for the epilogue, if you did or didn't I'd really appreciate any comments or questions about the series! :D**


	12. Epilogue : Part 1

The journey to Hoenn was much longer than any journey Steel had had to take in his life, even though that wasn't saying much, but thankfully he still had Copper's company despite Charizard flying a small distance away from Lancer.

Steel was kicking himself for not having thought of this all the way back in Cerulean. Steel and Copper had both had pokégears since they met Morty but had used them to communicate about once, if that.

Steel was riding on Lancer while Copper was cautiously atop Clair's charizard who seemed to know where he was going.

Steel and Copper were nervous and frankly in shock. Everyone in Kahto had been living with a metaphorical gun against their head for years but now in one day they'd all been taken away. Copper didn't know of a life without Zephyrs, at least Steel had been ignorant of the outside for the first half of his life, and she was wondering what would happen afterwards.

She knew that many Zephyrs had been forced into joining them and that they'd probably get minimal punishment but Janus and Rose had definitely been doing all those things of their own free will as apparent by their high positions within the organisations. No-one content with what they were doing would ever accept the more important tasks.

She wasn't sure exactly what would happen to them. They'd probably be but in prison or something.

To keep their minds off the future Copper and Steel were speculating about what Hoenn was like. It was actually proving quite difficult considering the only regions they'd ever been in had been on a permanent state of unrest and the only things they knew of Hoenn were the stories from the war.

"Cherrygrove was pretty normal. It had a gym with a proper gym leader after all." Steel said.

Copper nodded, "Oh yeah. There were people there from Hoenn, they seemed pretty nice. What were their names again? Harri or something?"

Steel thought for a moment, "Hannah. Hannah and Natalie, I think."

Copper smiled, "So just a bunch of Cherrygroves?"

"That would be pretty cool, but that doesn't really matter. We're just going to Ever Grande City and according to Clair that's on the edge of Hoenn."

Just on time there was a small simultaneous beep from both of their pokégears to inform them that the map app had just been updated. Steel and Copper's eyes flicked down to their wrists where the map of Hoenn was now showing.

Steel gasped, "Wow, it's huge."

Copper looked around and spotted some land in the distance. She glanced down at the digital map and the Pokémon began swerving in that direction.

The island was lush and pretty with a large mountain protruding from the middle and surrounded by cliffs. There were two orange topped buildings in sight, a small one on the south sight of the mountain and a large grand one on the north side.

Steel reasoned that the larger one would be Hoenn league's headquarters so the four of them landed there.

Copper dismounted the charizard and quickly returned it but Steel paused a second while he marvelled at the beauty of the area.

There was a well-kept cobblestone path leading to the front doors and the path was lined by two stone fences each side which had trees and red flowers decorating the land behind them.

The building itself was very beautiful indeed. The colours were very warm and there was a golden pokéball symbol above the entrance on a decorated arch.

Lancer buzzed happily and Steel jumped off. He was wondering what the Indigo Plateau would have looked like before it was destroyed then destroyed again but then Copper tapped his shoulder impatiently.

Steel chuckled again and returned Lancer to his pokéball. They walked towards the doors and pushed them open anxiously.

The walls were creams and lined with a golden orange while a red carpet was leading down to a set of turquoise doors. There were two neatly placed red desks along each side of the carpet, one with a computer and healing machine and the other with a till and shelf behind it. Next to the doors was a small rest area with a low polished coffee table and several comfy looking sofas near them.

A smaller door stood in between the lounge area and the small stall which had a gold-lined doorframe.

Copper and Steel looked around like they were lost for a moment before Copper began walking to the friendly looking receptionist behind the desk on the right. She had platinum blonde hair loosely tied into a bun and she wore a neat white uniform.

"Good afternoon. How may I help?" she greeted cheerily.

Steel began feeling self-conscious at how messy he must have looked at that moment. Copper was better but Steel had several holes in his jacket where he'd been stung and bandages lining his back where he was still cut up as well as there being nothing but a sleeve to cover the fact his arm was burnt.

_I _really_ hope I don't have to take it off_, he thought fearfully.

"We need to speak to the champion. Can we meet them?" Copper asked.

The woman cocked her head slightly in confusion but smiled, "I'm afraid the elite four and champion aren't all here at the moment but if you have all eight badges then all you have to do is wait for a while then one of you can challenge them."

Copper and Steel were silent for an uncomfortable amount of time as they tried figuring out what she meant by that.

"Oh." Steel finally realised it, "No, we're not here to challenge the elite, we're from Kahto and Clair asked us to speak with them."

The woman's eyes widened in shock, "K-Kahto? How...?"

"The Everstorm's gone but there's a problem and we need to talk to the League." Copper handed the woman Clair's note.

The receptionist took it and read to note quickly, her eyes widening further with every word. She looked back to the teenagers and nodded. She looked down and began typing a message on a device under the desktop. She wasn't refuting their claims. Steel thought it was a bit strange for her to believe something he wasn't sure _he'd_ believe but maybe it was their unfamiliar accents or Clair's signature that had convinced her.

"Go through the door there." the woman gestured to the lone door on the left wall, "Jasmine should be there."

Copper nodded appreciatively as she took back the small letter and the two of them walked across the foyer to the door.

Steel held it open for Copper as she walked through into a corridor. Steel closed the door but frowned as a second slam was heard.

Steel wheeled around to face a woman standing in the corridor and staring at them incredulously. She had long light brown hair that went down her waist that matched her eyes. She wore a delicate chain necklace with a small decoration comprised of three metal water droplets, one of which had a small blue gem inlaid in it.

Her dress was silky with long sleeves which had a subtle blue fabric that eventually became white as you went up the dress and the ends of the sleeves, neck and hem were decorated with a pale orange the same colour as her high-heels.

She had her arm slightly lifted towards the door handles since she'd just closed it but now she was still.

"Is it true?" Jasmine asked. Her voice was soft and melodic.

Steel met her eyes, "Clair sent us here."

Copper held out the folded piece of paper for Jasmine to take which she did tentatively. It only took her a moment to read it but when she finished the joy in her eyes was unbelievable.

A great smile appeared on her face and she quickly stepped closer.

"What happened? How did you remove the Everstorm? Why did Clair send you?" she was listing off so many questions that the only response Copper could make at that time was short.

"It's a long story." she explained and Jasmine nodded in understanding. She opened the door for the two and the three of them entered the room.

It was a meeting room similar to that in the Indigo City but much less plain. There were four others sitting around the long white table.

First, there was middle-aged man in a white lab coat. He had greying hair and a beard as well as a small journal laid out on the table in front of him which he was writing in. His frameless glasses were sliding down his nose as he leaned over the book but he seemed so intent on writing that he didn't seem to notice.

There was a young woman with very dark blue hair and eyes. Her hair fell in waves down past her shoulders and she wore a lovely deep marine sleeveless top that bunched up at her right shoulder where it was held with a pink star broach.

Next to her was a tall muscular man with hair so blonde it was almost white styled in spikes. He was wearing a tight black shirt with large print reading 'dynamo' and tinted sunglasses with lightning bolts decorating the frames. His fingers were drumming an irregular and erratic rhythm that made a lot of noise as his thick blue and yellow ring clacked on the table.

Finally was the person at the head of the table who Steel assumed was the champion. His brown hair was neat but was messy enough to convey formality without looking completely like a suit. His concerned grey eyes immediately locked on Steel and Copper as they walked in. He was wearing a dark grey shirt with the sleeves stopping halfway down his forearms.

He stood up when Copper and Steel entered and gazed at them cautiously.

"Are you two really from Kahto?" he asked them and they both nodded. Jasmine walked over to him and handed Clair's letter to him as proof. His eyes darted from the paper to the teenagers.

"Before I do anything, I want to hear your story. What's been happening in Kahto and how have you two escaped the Everstorm?" the champion's voice was steely and Jasmine shot him a quick look.

"Brendan. They've just travelled all this way. At least treat them with respect." Jasmine scolded quietly.

Brendan didn't seem to appreciate the reprimand but sat down, inviting Copper, Steel and Jasmine to do the same.

Jasmine sat near the head of the table next to Brendan while Copper and Steel took side-by-side seats a few spaces away.

"So what happened with Clair? Are they all okay?" Jasmine asked hurriedly, anxious to find out what happened to her home, "Is Morty well? And Whitney and Oak?"

Steel and Copper jolted with fear at the last name as they realised how little the other regions knew and how it was going to be them who'd have to break the news. Steel sincerely thought that it shouldn't have been him to deliver the information but he thought this would be better than leaving them in the dark.

Steel sighed sadly, "I'm sorry, but Professor Oak died."

There was a collective gasp. Jasmine's expression was hollow and her mouth had fallen open, leaving a little 'o' on her face.

"How many others have died?" Liza wondered.

Their faces were last reaction the Hoenn league would have wanted.

"I don't know everyone who died or how large the number is but I can name a few. From what I know, Professor Oak and Blaine were among those who died in the earthquakes and floods but Red, Koga, Will and Bugsy were all murdered." Copper explained grimly. All the names filled her with rage but it was all hate against a dead man.

"'Murdered'?" the man next to Liza repeated incredulously, "Who'd be able to kill so many from a league? They must have been..." he was quickly cut off by a glare from Jasmine that contained almost tangible anger.

"It was Falkner. He escaped his prison during the disasters and seized control of Kahto, killing anyone who would stop him until today when he summoned Ho-oh and Lugia to get rid of the Everstorm...and attack Hoenn. Whitney and Janine stopped him and he shot himself after almost killing Janine."

"F-Falkner? Why would he attack Janine or kill all those people? He wouldn't do that." Jasmine protested.

"Why would he have waited all these years to dispel the Everstorm?" Brendan asked, ignoring Jasmine but then her tear-filled eyes widened as she remembered something.

"He couldn't." Jasmine spoke up, "He'd tried to summon them during the war but was stopped. He was probably waiting until they forgave him."

Liza was looking at Jasmine with fear, "He'd tried to unleash Ho-oh and Lugia on Hoenn?"

"Samuel, Janine and Whitney stopped him after Morty predicted it. We put him in prison and forbade it because we thought the utter destruction of a region wasn't the way to win the war."

The air was soon becoming charged as the Hoenn league members kept talking. Copper and Steel sensed the tension but didn't know how to react.

"What about that piece of paper you gave Brendan?" Professor Birch asked without looking up but from what Steel could see his eyes were red and glistening with tears.

Brendan looked ready to change the topic. He cleared his throat and began reading the note out.

"'To whoever's in charge of Hoenn at the moment, I'm sending this warning. The Everstorm around Kahto has been dispelled and we require help. There is a very large group of criminals in Kahto and we'll try to stop them from leaving but we may not be completely successful. It's likely they'll try to attack you so please be ready.

'Also I request a pardon for every former member of the Hoenn league who's under arrest for the destruction of Kahto except for Winona and Roxanne. Clair.'" Brendan turned to Steel and Copper, "Who are these criminals she's talking about?"

"They were called the 'Zephyrs' and they're the people who worked for Falkner." Copper said.

Everyone's eyes turned to Professor Birch who was now standing up. He slung a leather shoulder-bag over his back and looked to Brendan, "I'll go spread the news."

But Brendan stopped him, "Why does Clair think she has the power to release five criminals? Especially ones from Hoenn."

"She was the one who requested they were incarcerated in the first place. Cynthia, Calem and Iris need to know of this anyway so they might as well act on their way."

Brendan didn't say anything but he waved the researcher away. Birch nodded and exited the room quickly.

Next Brendan stood up, "If these criminals manage to escape then we must be prepared to meet them in battle. Is there anything else I should be alerting the other regions about?"

"Some of the Zephyrs may be armed." Copper warned, "And Janine is currently in critical condition. Because of Falkner we haven't been able to recover properly from the disasters so we don't have any places that can help her. There are probably more people who are hurt but she's the only one I know of."

Brendan nodded and sighed exasperatedly.

Liza had her eyes closed in concentration, "Tate is trying to contact the other regions."

Jasmine smiled and turned to Copper and Steel, "I expect Clair will be able to tell us more of the details but thank you for what you've told us. Would you mind if I travelled back to Kahto with you?"

Steel shook his head and Jasmine quickly left the room, inviting the two teens to follow her.

Once they were out in the corridor and walking outside Jasmine sighed and smiled apologetically at Copper and Steel.

"I'm sorry. I know it's not very nice to see people being angry at each other but…" she breathed deeply and they walked outside, "But a lot of people in Hoenn still haven't got over the war. Lives were lost and families were torn apart. Most people can get on with themselves but the tension is still there. I've made myself quite an unpopular gym leader because of that. Many trainers were just attacking me instead of challenging me."

Steel's face fell in worry so Jasmine smiled to assure him that he was fine, "But at least now both Wallace and I can return home. I just can't believe the grandson of Wattson could be so arrogant." she added crossly.

"Who?" Copper wondered.

"The young man in the black shirt, Soren. He just became the new Mauville leader."

Jasmine threw down a pokéball and a skarmory appeared on the path, almost blinding Steel and Copper as the sun overhead shone down and bounced off its metal feathers into their eyes.

Next Lancer and Charizard appeared onto the path and Jasmine beamed at them.

"Wow, they're getting mega-evolution in Kahto as well?"

Copper and Steel gave her confused looks.

"Oh, mega-evolution's becoming quite common here. It first started occurring in Kalos but now we're seeing quite a bit of it." she said while mounting the amour bird Pokémon.

They all shot off and thankfully they didn't come across any Zephyrs trying to get to Hoenn on their way but Steel kept shooting uneasy looks at Jasmine.

A _lot_ of people had died since the war had ended and Steel only knew a fraction. He was hoping that it wouldn't be the case but he was dreading the time when she tried looking for someone who wasn't there.

Hopefully that number would be significantly lower than the number of friends who were left.

But despite his worry there was a smile of Steel's face. Help was coming and the Zephyrs were going to be stopped. Steel was going to make sure the world his father came out into was a safe one.

* * *

**This is the beginning of the end. The epilogue part one which introduces the neo-Hoenn League! Staring:**

**Brendan - Champion**

**Liza - Elite Four**

**Soren - Mauville Gym Leader**

**Jasmine - Sootopolis Gym Leader**

**Tate - Mossdeep Gym Leader**

**Prof. Birch - Advisor/Researcher**

**There are more of course but these will be the only ones who show up. I like to think that Tate and Liza are still on par with each other but they wanted one to stay behind so they rock-paper-scissored it. :D**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter and if you did or didn't I'd appreciate any comments or questions about the series! :D**


	13. Epilogue : Part 2

Steven had been the champion and had fully co-operated with the other champions so he'd had the 'luxury' of being held in a Hoenn prison.

He'd been there for so many years but at least he'd been able to work on his love of fossils and minerals as he'd done so. Steven had tried doing some research on the Everstorm to find any ways to get rid of it but he'd come up with no answers. None of the other regions had flying-type Pokémon of such power so it was impossible. Winona and Roxanne had just refused to help in any way, shape or form so Kahto was completely on its own.

Even with all the regions banding together there'd been no breakthrough. There'd been no contact with them for over fourteen years so they'd just given up hope.

Then there was Hoenn itself. With seventy percent of the League either dead or in prison they had a lot more to recover from than just the floods and war. But they'd managed it. Professor Birch had been a good help to Steven as he'd been giving the former champion updates the entire time. A new league had been established but there was always a reason to worry, something that plagued his mind in the still moments before sleep. No-one had any idea how many people had died but that unknown number was his nightmare.

Steven had been expecting Birch to meet him that day but so far he was being late. Steven didn't blame him since the researcher would definitely have more important things to do but it was the state of the man that really shocked Steven.

He was breathing heavily as if he'd run the entire way there. His eyes were puffy and red like he'd been crying but there was a massive smile on his face.

"Steven!" he cried excitedly and Steven stood up in confusion. The meeting he'd been to was supposed to be about the economy. Why would he be so happy about that?

Birch ran down and met Steven's eyes, "Wonderful news! They've done it?"

Steven sighed, "Done what?"

"The Everstorm! Kahto isn't trapped anymore!"

Steven's breath was cut short. After so many years...

"What happened? Are the people there okay? I…" Steven stopped talking. He'd become uncomfortably aware of where he was, the room's confinement ringing in his ears like the aftermath of an explosion. Steven sighed, "At least I'll be safely behind bars when Clair comes calling."

Birch noticed the former champion's regretful expression but surprised Steven by smiling assuringly.

"That's the main reason why I'm here. Clair pardoned all the Hoenn League, except for Winona and Roxanne. You're a free man now."

Steven had innumerable questions in his head but they all got stuck in his mouth so he was just left staring, an amazed look growing on his face.

"Clair is requesting some trainers to come over to Kahto and help out with the problems there."

Steven's expression fell in fear, "Wait. What's happening there?"

"It was Falkner. Apparently he got a lot of people on his side and started killing off the Indigo League. They had to go into hiding but managed to stop him after finding out that he was going to use Ho-oh and Lugia to attack Hoenn."

"'Killing off the Indigo League'?" he repeated quietly, the overwhelming feeling of his nightmare coming to fruition manifesting in a great pain in his heart.

Birch's face darkened, "We were told that five of them were murdered, including him, but both Samuel and Blaine died from Groudon and Kyogre."

Steven put his head in his hands and was still for a moment. But then he straightened up.

"We need to help. Hoenn needs to bridge the gap between us and Kahto."

Birch nodded happily, "Phoebe should already be released since she had the most minimal security out of the seven and I got word from the Cynthia, Calem and Iris that they're already making plans."

Birch looked to one of the guards and a man clad in dark grey uniform walked over to the door. He inputted an elaborate code into a small panel on the stone wall and there was a click that indicated it was unlocked.

Steven just paused. It seemed too much. Freedom had always seemed an impossibility but now it was there.

* * *

The events of that day had been very shocking for the people of Johto and Kanto. Suddenly the terror that had plagued them so long was dead and the League had returned but more importantly help had come.

They couldn't help but feel a bit ungrateful considering what the League and other regions had done to them but they were all very much trying to make up for that fact.

Just like before Koga's death the League was running around Kahto but this time instead of removing rubble and saving people they were reclaiming the cities and stopping as many Zephyrs as possible.

Thankfully most of the Zephyrs surrendered once they heard that the threat keeping them together was no longer a problem but they did have to fight a few. Thankfully with the help of Morty, Cherrygrove and other willing trainers they managed to catch quite a few Zephyrs trying to escape Kahto.

Hopefully there were no others but even then the other regions should have had the message by now. It didn't take that long to get to Hoenn after all especially since Clair's charizard knew the way.

Erika was looking after Janine and the walls around Cherrygrove, Mahogany Town and Saffron City disappeared so the other cities and gym leaders were there to help as well.

But the thing that people wanted the most was answers. There were very drastic changes over a very short time and it was very confusing. The League members gave answers when they could but were mostly busy.

It was after another long journey but now Jasmine, Copper and Steel were back in Johto but the duo couldn't help but feel pangs of guilt when they landed in Olivine City.

Copper and Steel hadn't paid the place much mind when they'd flown over it since they'd been more focused on whatever Conrad was warning them about in Mahogany but now they were back the past was hovering over it like the fog in Ecruteak City.

The fallen lighthouse was littering the ocean with even more rubble while the shut-down factory was still the metallic and industrial eye-sore it had been back then. The place radiated the atmosphere of a devastation ghost town but Jasmine seemed to take it remarkably well.

Skarmory landed on the cliffside where the block building below the tower had been half-crushed from when the top half collapsed. Copper and Steel landed shortly afterwards but were fine with giving her a moment alone.

She looked onto her city, her hair and dress fluttering gently in sea breeze, while she slowly walked around the cliff. The sounds were of the waves rolling onto the beach and into the stone walls.

Then she stopped and didn't look away as she spoke, "What happened here after I left?"

"Some Zephyrs noticed that this place was empty years ago so they used it for construction." Copper omitted what they'd been making, "But they abandoned Olivine since there was a massive increase in magneton and magnemite in the area that kept attacking them."

Jasmine smiled gently but didn't say anything else.

Steel frowned as he glanced at the fallen lighthouse. It seemed like such a long time ago now even though it was only about a month. So much of his life had changed but he found himself thinking with no doubt that it was for the better, despite the fact he'd gone from just his arm being wrapped in bandages to him being practically a mummy.

He was wondering how his dad would react when there was a small gasp. Steel wheeled around and saw what the source of commotion was. When he did his guilt twisted his stomach and made him feel ill.

Jasmine and Copper had been inspecting the lighthouse and when they did they found a large amount of blood dried into the grass under its shadow.

Jasmine stepped backwards and clasped her hand over her mouth, looking quite sick, but Copper and Steel tried assuring her.

"It's okay! I'm fine!" Steel said.

Jasmine gave him a look of horror, "_You_ were attacked here? Who would such a thing?"

"It was Falkner. He was also the one who destroyed your lighthouse."

Jasmine found it so hard to believe. She knew why he'd been sent to prison but his father had just died and they were in middle of a war. She couldn't believe that that caring, protective boy could have done any of this.

Steel opened his mouth to elaborate but instead he was cut off but something suddenly appearing next to them.

They all jumped back in surprise when a large round Pokémon and a woman teleported in front of them.

The Pokémon was mostly purple but had pink eyes and a yellow cross on one side making up its face and each one of its four arms ended in yellow.

The woman next to it was wearing a blue hoodie and a long dark skirt. She was tanned and managed to look quite young and beautiful despite having shoulder length grey hair.

Both the drifblim and trainer had teleported there with their backs facing Jasmine, Copper and Steel so the two were unaware of there being more people.

The Johto trainers were frozen, not sure whether to get this woman's attention or wait for her to turn around.

"I can't believe we did this." her eyes were locked on Cianwood in the distance.

Jasmine's eyes suddenly widened as she recognised the trainer, "Phoebe?"

Phoebe spun around and gasped at the sight of the trio, "Jasmine?" Phoebe rushed forwards and hugged the steel-specialist, "I was _so_ worried. I'm just so sorry about everything that happened."

Jasmine stepped back and looked at Phoebe confusedly, "Didn't you know? I've been working in Sootopolis. I only just arrived."

Phoebe's face was full of guilt, "I know but this was your city. And now it's ruined."

Jasmine's face broke into a smile, "But that's why you're here, right? To help out." Jasmine's skarmory cawed out and everyone watched another person land besides them.

Steel and Copper didn't recognise him but Phoebe and Jasmine sure did. Steven brushed off his clothes and stepped onto the grass, not returning _his_ skarmory just yet.

"Steven?" Jasmine was amazed at how quickly the others were getting there.

Copper and Steel's eyes darted from Jasmine to Steven, "Wait. _He's_ the Hoenn champion?"

Steven looked to Steel and Copper, "I used to be. Are you two the messengers Clair sent to Hoenn?" he asked, remembering Professor Birch's descriptions. They agreed, "Good. Do you know where I would find Clair?"

Steel shook his head, "I don't know. She could be anywhere in Kahto but I could call her if you want." Steven nodded appreciatively and Steel picked up his pokégear then walked off a bit so he could make the call in the quiet.

Steven thanked Jasmine for looking after Sootopolis for Wallace and Copper tried explaining some things to the other trainers.

Clair was currently with Morty near the edge of Ecruteak City. It was still covered with fog so the Zephyrs inside the city were able to ambush those who weren't used to seeing through the thick purple/grey air. Not even a hurricane from Clair's dragonite could dispel the fog. It was something special all right.

Morty and Clair raised their arms to protect their heads from all the dust and rocks that were tossed at them when air blasts shot out from the fog.

Morty's gengar shot a dark pulse into the fray but there was no way to know whether it had hit one of the Pokémon or not. He gritted in teeth in the realisation that he probably only destroying more of the buildings in his city.

Then the pokégear on Clair's wrist had begun to buzz. She glanced at Morty to check whether he would be okay on his own and he nodded.

Clair sighed. She'd been the champion of Kahto for fifteen years yet this would be her first inter-region act that _wasn't_ ordering attacks on Hoenn. She had no idea how Lance had dealt with them but was more than eager to fix things between the regions.

The Blackthorn gym and Cianwood gym had been crushed and the Indigo Plateau was years past salvaging so Clair invited the other champions to the Indigo Plateau. She'd given them instructions via Steel and Copper of how to get there so she could finish up a few things.

Ecruteak City was going to be a tough nut to crack, especially since a flying-type specialist would be one of the only trainers that would be powerful enough to get rid of the fog and Falkner didn't seem bothered the entire time.

Clair was forced to leave Morty so she wouldn't be leaving the others waiting for hours. The camouflage on the plateau was now gone so people could go in and out without problems but Clair couldn't help but stop for a moment when she landed.

She still remembered that night when the building burnt down. She wasn't really looking at anything in particular, she was just allowing her mind to wander. She wondered what the others would think about Kahto now and Clair was curious to find out who the new champions would be.

She walked down the familiar grey corridors and made her way to the meeting room, feeling unusually nervous. Clair hadn't had to deal with much more than the city for years. She'd always tried focusing on what she _could_ protect to keep herself from going mad with frustration, not that she hadn't come close a few times. She wouldn't like to say it aloud but she was finding Kahto to be a bit overwhelming but Clair expected that she'd adjust quickly.

Clair opened the door and walked in.

Everyone began looked to her while she looked around. She recognised Iris and Cynthia as well as Brendan, to her surprise, then she laid eyes on someone she didn't recognise. He was a young man with dark hair in a middle parting that was tied in a short fashionable ponytail. He had similarly dark eyes which were glazed over as he seemed to be deep in thought.

But then there was the person in the corner. _Why hadn't Steel or Copper mentioned _him? Clair thought exasperatedly. Steven was already turning around so he caught her stunned expression.

"Steven asked to speak with you. This is your region so he can leave if you wish..." Cynthia began hurriedly, having worried about how the two would react to each other.

Clair slowly shook her head, "No. We need to sort this out and..." Clair steeled her nerves as she gathered her confidence, "And I need to apologise. I knew who was to blame but thanks to me all of you were sent to prison."

Steven sighed, "But I was still at fault. I had many opportunities to end the war before it got to that point but because of my pride I put you and Kahto through so much."

Clair met Steven's eyes and his light blue eyes. He looked older and wearier since she'd seen him last but she couldn't imagine how she looked to the rest. But what mattered to her was that she saw sincerity.

"I just hope that we can work together to rebuild Kahto and our relations with Hoenn."

* * *

**One more chapter to go. Now the regions are working together again things can finally start to go up for Johto and Kahto :)**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter and if you did or didn't I'd appreciate any comments or questions you have for the series! :D**


	14. The final chapter

Over the last few weeks they'd seen all the cities being recovered and a lot of Zephyrs being arrested. Trainers had been very helpful in taking down the Zephyrs who still remained loyal and/or power-hungry but once the champions got involved there was no longer any resistance worth any merit.

Copper had been content to help out for the day while Karen asked for Steel's assistance in something so that day she found herself in Goldenrod City.

Fighting the Zephyrs was considered the 'easy' task but then people had to rebuild things. Copper was curious about the state of it now. She could barely contain the relief she felt when Copper found Bliss was alive.

Copper still wasn't a fan of the woman but had been terrified since the death of Bugsy that Bliss would have been killed along with him. However she'd found the nurse in the Pokémon centre, looking happy to see her.

"Copper. I must admit that I didn't expect to see you come here again." Bliss said as she sat from behind the centre's desk.

"To be honest, me neither, but now I'm here to help out. Is Whitney here?"

Bliss raised an eyebrow but then shook her head, "She left a few days ago when Janine was moved to Sinnoh. Did you want to talk to her?"

Copper shrugged, "Just wondering."

Bliss smiled, "Well, if you want to help then there are a few jobs that I think a trainer could do." Copper nodded and let Bliss lead the way.

The one and only advantage of having your city taken over by Zephyrs or Plains or whatever was that those cities and towns were usually the least destroyed since they had some sort of organisation but Goldenrod City was a bit of an exception.

The railway and radio towers had been too complicated to rebuild in such circumstances so they'd been more or less left alone. Copper had no expertise in machinery or anything so for the moment she was just joining in on the buildings themselves.

It was a pretty routine procedure so she ended up chatting for a long while with the other people there. Some of them were Goldenrod residents but Copper found herself enjoying talking to the people from other regions.

Many people had come from places all over the world to help once the word got out that the Everstorm surrounding Kahto had disappeared. The man Copper was currently speaking to was from Unova and Copper as having fun finding out more about a normal region.

The man's name was Dirk and he came from Nimbasa City. He had dark skin and short dark hair. He wore a yellow jacket and was using a foreign red fire-type Pokémon to help him with the bricks and stone. It was large and strong-looking so it was doing quite well. Dirk introduced it as Hihi the darmarnitan while Copper introduced Bruce. They didn't have Kahto Pokémon in Unova just as they didn't have Unova Pokémon in Kahto so they were both equally curious.

Copper soon began to daydream. She and Steel had done their fair share of work but they were only fifteen so she was wondering whether they could go to somewhere like Kalos, Unova, Sinnoh or even Hoenn and go on a traditional journey or something. They already had good teams so it shouldn't be dangerous, definitely not as dangerous as the journeys they had before.

Copper quietly laughed to herself as something occurred to her. She'd been there helping when the Zephyrs of Ecruteak City were finally arrested and she'd never been more relieved. Janus and Rose were in the band of the willing Zephyrs so they'd been sentenced to prison.

Copper hated them and expected that she always would, not in spite of but because they were supposed to be her parents. But that was the problem. In Ecruteak City they'd barely been at home towards her later years but it was still _their_ house so now she was without a home or any legal guardians.

She'd been staying in room 608 since the Zephyrs' downfall but expected that she wouldn't be staying there long. The city was nice and all but it didn't feel quite like a home.

After all the Zephyrs were driven out of Ecruteak City she'd been able to see Paxton again. He'd been celebrating with the other citizens when he's spotted Copper.

Janus and Rose's arrests were seen by everyone there since they had been the Zephyrs in charge so Paxton hadn't had to connect too many dots to find out she didn't have a proper home anymore.

Copper was still considering his offer but was becoming less reluctant with each day. Her problem had been with the Zephyrs there, not really the city. There were still the two kimono girls, Sayo and Naoko, and Paxton.

Copper smiled to herself. Maybe she would.

* * *

Clair knew she had a lot of work to do but decided that she needed a small break. Blackthorn City was a strong one and she knew that they'd be okay but she still felt bad for abandoning them for so long.

She returned her dragonite to its pokéball and walked into the main part of the city. It looked just like it had been when she created the tunnel to the Indigo City but it still felt much smaller than what she was used to since the high cliffs around Blackthorn crumbled.

She was walking towards the gym when the sun caught her eyes. Clair shielded her face and looked around for the source of the glare only to find herself staring at Lance's statue.

To see him brought tears to her eyes. He looked so young and she felt so old. Time had stopped for him while she was still trapped in that river, helpless to do anything but be swept away by the current.

The longer she found herself staring at Lance's statue the more she felt anger growing. It felt like an uncomfortable knot getting bigger and bigger and bigger. Clair clenched her fists and wished that she had her punching bag but then found it was different.

But it wasn't as if she hadn't experienced death before. Her father had died when she inherited the Blackthorn City gym and she still missed him but it didn't hurt as much as Lance. Maybe it was because she'd lived for fourteen years with all the grief bottled up.

Rage grew inside Clair every time she thought about Lance but it was different to her anger at Winona or Falkner. She found that she couldn't hate Drake. Every time she tried or thought she did the fury drained away from the hole in her heart leaving her feeling hollow.

"Clair?"

Clair hurriedly wiped away her tears before looking around for the person but she found that Fran was in front of her.

Fran had changed a lot since Clair had last seen her. Her black hair was now more like grey and she'd shrunk quite a bit but her knowing expression was just the same.

"You don't have to do that you know. Everybody's aware that you're human so I don't know why you're trying to hide that."

Clair was quiet, unsure how she'd answer that.

Fran smiled, "I'm glad you've come but..." Fran glanced back mischievously, "I think someone is even happier."

Clair looked to wherever Fran had glanced at but didn't have time to react at what was speeding towards her.

Subconsciously, a smile was already spreading across her face as a Pokémon similar to a cloud flew into her arms.

Clair wrapped her arms around Altaria and hugged it. Altaria had hugged her all the time and no matter how angry or sad she was her fluffy feathers would always cheer her up. It was just the same now.

"Altaria!" Clair cried happily as Altaria wrapped its wings around its trainer, "I'm so sorry for leaving you alone for so long."

"Altaria was never alone. I made sure of that so there's no need for you to continue apologising." Fran scolded with a small smile on her face.

Clair nodded and looked away sheepishly, "Yeah, I've gotta stop that. It's the present, not the past."

Fran folded her arms and paused for a moment, "It looks like you've matured, Clair."

"You should thank Janine for..." the memory of Janine being taken away in a stretcher pervaded her mind and stopped her. According to Cynthia there hadn't been much improvement at all. She was stable thanks to the proper hospital in Sinnoh but severe damage to the head wasn't something _anyone_ could recover from quickly. At least when she woke up she'd have her best friend with her.

Hoenn was closer to Kanto than any other region but if they'd moved her there then they'd be risking panic from both sides and Whitney wouldn't like having to spend a lot of time there anyway.

Clair shook herself from those thoughts, determined to let herself be happy for once. With Altaria's blue face to remind her, Clair made a promise. She needed to live in the present if she was going to be the champion.

"Clair?" Fran asked and Clair met the old woman's eyes, feeling silly for having spaced out like that.

"Thank you Fran. I'll return again once I've finished sorting things out." Altaria perked up and flapped her wings excitedly. Altaria flew to Clair's eye level and something dropped out of her cloud of feathers.

It fell into Clair's hand, a pokéball, and Clair smiled. She tucked the pokéball away and petted her Pokémon's head.

"Can you fly me to Viridian City?" Clair asked and Altaria responded enthusiastically by spreading its wings, ready to be ridden.

If they were going to restart the Indigo League for real then she'd need to sort out a few things. The original had been decimated in numbers and while she knew that Karen and Bruno wouldn't object to resuming their roles officially, she needed to know what would happen with Blue since he was the Viridian gym leader but one of the new elites.

Clair sighed happily. At least she wouldn't be bored, that would come later when the bureaucracy was reinstated.

* * *

Lancer landed in a large field. Well it was probably a field once upon a time. Now it was a slightly less dense patch of woods in the middle of a forest. The trees around the area were more even and taller than the ones that showed what used to be.

Steel was pretty annoyed by all the trees because he'd wanted to see what was there but he hadn't really expected the place to be different, it _had_ been fourteen years.

Karen and her honchkrow landed next to Steel and his Pokémon, a sad expression hinting in her face. Unlike so many other places in Kahto there weren't even remnants of what this place used to be.

"This was your house?" Steel found it rather hard to believe but Karen looked certain.

"Yes. Though it was Ferro's house originally, I only lived there for about a year and a half." Steel tried imagining what it would have been like if the war had never happened. What if he'd grown up in the farmhouse Karen and his dad had described. Maybe he would have gone on a traditional journey and travelled around Johto for badges. Steel smirked to himself. The idea of challenging Karen in a formal battle sounded fun and weird at the same time and...Steel shuddered. The idea of Falkner being the Violet City gym leader...

But he was feeling happy. That dream was looking a lot more plausible nowadays. Now that the other regions were helping and the threat of the Zephyrs was all but nonexistent Johto and Kanto were starting to recover quite rapidly.

Karen sighed, "It's a shame. I think you would have loved the house if it was still here."

Steel frowned, "Then are you planning on returning to Mount Mortar, or are you going to stay in the Indigo City?"

Karen shrugged, "It depends." she said vaguely. Steel frowned at her so she continued, "Clair says that I can continue to be an elite so that's a reason to stay in the city but I really want it to come down to you and Ferro."

Steel was quiet momentarily. He'd been able to talk more with Karen since the fight in Fuchsia City but it was still hard for him to see Karen as his mum. He couldn't deny it and he'd loved finding out more about the past Kahto from her but it was just a big thing to get used to, and Karen understood that.

"Oh, by the way." Steel spoke up and Karen turned around to meet his eyes, "You know that picture you gave me?" Steel reached inside his pocket and took it out. His jacket still had a bunch of pinholes in it but it was clean and he didn't want to stop wearing it since he'd become so used to it.

There still wasn't much of a hospital in Kahto but after the weeks he was now good enough not to require all the bandages. His arm was still burned but there was nothing to do about that.

Karen looked at the picture and her expression turned sad, "When did that happen?"

The photograph was an unrecognisable mess of colour, "It was in my jacket when I fell into the water near Fuchsia City. Sorry."

Karen shook her head and grinned, "You're Ferro's son alright. You don't have to apologise for something you didn't really do. It doesn't matter anyway because now we don't have to be apart."

Her honchkrow flew down and came to a rest on her shoulder. Steel found himself smiling at the prospect.

"It's a short walk from here." Karen said and she began walking through the trees to Route 42.

Steel had never really appreciated the amount of effort Karen and Will had put into protecting the people until he was there facing the door.

It was so well designed that you could have walked right through the route with your head facing the mountain and not see it. You'd have to know what you were looking for to find it.

There wasn't a lock on it to prevent the people inside being trapped so the camouflage was defence enough.

Steel walked up to the door and placed his hand on the metal, searching for the handle. He found it and pulled. There was a large sound like a hundred shards of metal crashing into each other as the door swung open.

Karen and Steel winced at the loud sound so he grabbed hold of its side to stop it from moving any more.

Karen looked up, "It shouldn't sound like that. Doesn't anyone take care of it?"

"It's not that. It _definitely_ didn't sound like that when I left." Steel looked up to where she was staring and found the answer at the top of the doorframe. The disguised metal was mostly smooth but right next to the hinges it had become loose and crooked.

"Some of the projectiles that hit the mountain must have damaged the door." he concluded and Karen's face flashed with confusion before settling.

"Oh. The Mahogany battle."

Steel nodded before slipping inside through the large crack. The opening cave was just how he'd remembered it. Little lights were hanging from where the filed-down cave walls met the filed-down stone ceiling and many conspicuous doors were lined up amongst the rock.

Steel turned to the right and faced the door. He was so excited that he almost ran straight through the door but he remembered that he hadn't called ahead so Steel restrained himself and knocked hurriedly.

"Shane?" called a curious voice and the sound made Steel's smile stretched even further.

Steel pulled open the door and found Ferro sitting on the floor with a notepad and a pen in his hands. He was in the middle of turning around when his son ran forward and threw his arms around Ferro.

Ferro gasped in shock, his brown eyes shining with surprise under his glasses, before returning the hug joyfully.

"You're back!" Ferro cried, unable to contain such amazing happiness.

Steel found it funny how little he cared about the pain in his back or arm. All he cared about was the fact that he was home again and his dad was safe.

They broke apart and stared into each other's almost identically brown eyes, not able to get enough of the fact they were back.

Then Ferro's eyes fell on the person behind his son. He staggered to his feet, his eyes and smile almost unbelievable wide.

Karen and Ferro made their way to each other. It felt like nothing could have stopped them and after they embraced they were sure that nothing could have separated them.

It was at that moment, a moment filled with their love and relief after not seeing each other for so long, that Steel felt something click in his mind.

There was no doubt whatsoever that this was his family.

Ferro looked from Karen to Steel with wonder, "I can't believe you've come back!"

Karen laughed, "We couldn't leave you in a mountain but I'm sorry it took so long."

"What took so long?"

Steel couldn't have stopped grinning if he'd wanted to, which he didn't of course, "We just wanted the outside to be safe before you came out."

Ferro cocked his head in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"Steel and his friend helped the League get rid of the people who were terrorising Johto and Kanto. We've been working the past few weeks to fix things up since Kahto is free again."

Ferro's eyes widened and he looked proudly at Steel. He pulled his son into another hug and the three of them felt like staying in that moment forever.

* * *

Steel slung his bag over his shoulder and readjusted the neckerchief and goggles around his neck. He wouldn't need them but liked the nostalgia of having them.

Copper was standing on Olivine City's beach and stroking Belinda's large blue head while she waited for him.

She noticed the sound of his footsteps and the sound of Lancer's buzzing then turned around, a one-sided smirk plastered on her face.

"'Bout time. You okay?" she called and Steel nodded.

"Sorry, Dad was fussing over what I should pack. He hasn't been to Unova for a long time."

Copper chuckled, "We've done better with worse. Paxton leant me some stuff from his shop so we won't have to do much shopping while we're there and get going as soon as we arrive."

"According to Karen the first place we'll arrive at should be Nuvema Town."

Copper gave him a thumbs up and held up her wrist to Steel. She winked, "Let's hope you listen when I say I see Unova, you wouldn't want to crash in a cliff."

Steel laughed embarrassedly, "You're never going to let that go, are you?

"Neither will Cain." Copper sighed, "It's a shame he's staying in Cerulean. But I guess he's already had a normal life so he's not curious." she joked.

While Steel was glancing at his pokégear he noticed the time, "If we leave now we'll get there in time. But how are you going to get there? Did you borrow Clair's charizard again?"

Belinda snaked her way towards the water and Copper leapt onto her back.

She turned towards Steel while keeping one hand on Belinda's neck to steady herself, "No, Kuni had another idea." Copper turned her head to face the ocean outside of Olivine, "Belinda, use surf."

And they shot off, Copper's laughs echoing in the wind.

Steel joined in the laughter and quick jumped onto Lancer's back. The 'no Pokémon in the house' rule was a tad frustrating but he still spent a lot of time with them outside or in the Indigo City so Lancer was buzzing and ready to race.

Steel stole a glance back. Johto had been something that terrified but now, as he was about to leave, he realised he'd miss it.

But his sense of curiosity and adventure made him look forward.

He looked at Lancer and grinned, "Let's go. Belinda's not as fast as you." Lancer buzzed in agreement and the two shot off after their friend.

* * *

**IT'S FINISHED! IT'S FINALLY DONE AND I CANNOT THANK ALL OF YOU SO MUCH!**

**From the 22nd November 2014 to the 7th May 2015. These 166 days were great and I have all of you to thank.**

**Diolch yn fawr iawn i: !**

**Thank you very much to: !**

**Derenost**

**TarrelYoukai**

**The Lunar Umbreon**

**aleking74**

**ddreamer9159**

**yavin4**

**Keyblade132**

**YOLOSWAG420JESUS**

**Umbreon**

**Thank you to you all and to all of you who I can't name for supporting this series. I really hope you enjoyed it as much as I have writing it for the 5 months and 14 days I have been! :D**

**I also want to thank my sister since she thanked me in her book finale and since she was a brilliant wall for me to bounce ideas off of. Would you believe the whole of this series was created when she sa****id, "Apokécalypse"?**

**Now to get into the ATLA series so I can help her as much as she helped me.**

**Sadly I won't be writing Steel and Copper's Unova journey but you guys can imagine how that'll go for yourselves ;)**

**Now, for the last time (until I find another thing to write), I'll say:**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter and if you did or didn't I'd appreciate any comments or questions for the series! :D**


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